


How to Train Your Ed

by MiyabiDreams



Category: Ed Edd n Eddy
Genre: College, Fraternities & Sororities, Hazing, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-03
Updated: 2013-10-03
Packaged: 2017-12-28 07:39:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 82,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/989456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiyabiDreams/pseuds/MiyabiDreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dropping someone as impressionable as Ed into the college lifestyle is bound to go very wrong, very fast.</p>
<p>Supermassive thanks to my partner Kit for help with this one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>  <sub>(another project of the OLD persuasion)</sub></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Day Blues

It was hot. Far too hot to function, even as little as the last new arrival on the college campus unloading his boxes, stacked five high over his head and making his arms bulge with effort; every box was crammed to bursting, taped several times around to keep so much miscellaneous crap from pouring out over the slightly unkempt lawn in front of the fraternity house. Sweat poured down the face of the tall, lanky young man and seeped into the collar of his pea soup green jacket, his jeans starting to fall down on his backside as he tottered toward the door.

If Double D were here, he would have held the door open, or at least have told Ed to put down a few of the boxes before trying to move. If Eddy were here, he would have started yelling suggestions on how to scam the other frat boys out of their money. But it was only Ed, thrust by himself into college life on his own at the only university that would accept him based on his sports scholarship (it wasn't like anywhere would take him based on academics).

It was gonna be a long semester...

Kevin leaned out of a second floor window and bemoaned the broken air conditioning on move-in day, or at least the brothers had said it was broken. He knew it could be the first of many tests for him and the rest of the new pledges. The only reason they had been allowed in already was this frat's emphasis on having all the athletes it could hold, not that any of them had been willing to help him move all his crap in.

He smiled as a breeze caught his shirtless chest; he'd removed it after he'd finished lugging everything into his room. He happened to glance down and almost fell forward and out the window. With a death grip on the sill he stared at the familiar dork making his way up the walk.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man. This is not good." He stared out past Ed trying to see if there were any more of them following. He breathed a sign of relief and remembered that Double Dork had had his choice of colleges and that little weasel could never get a sports scholarship anyway.

"Not good, not good!" Ed stumbled as he nearly lost his boxes to gravity, but somehow managed to swerve with his usual strange grace, letting the boxes direct how he moved until his back was pressed against the door. He breathed a sigh of relief then looked up, his eyes widening as he recognized that voice. He flailed a hand over his hand over his head spastically. "HI KEVIN!!"

At that moment the box perched at the top of his armload slipped off of its tentative hold and fell to its imminent demise, exploding in a shower of multicolor sponges, plus a single slice of toast.

"Geez..." Kevin jerked himself back into his room hoping no one had heard the greeting. Maybe Ed had the wrong Frat. Yeah, that was it. There had to be another one that loved the athletics department. Ed couldn't always be trusted to follow directions properly. Kevin smirked and stuck his head out the window.

"Need directions? I'll be down in a minute." He could laugh this off with his new brothers and tell old stories about that jerky frog-mouth and his hair-brained schemes. He headed down the stairs and towards the front door. He wondered where his roommate was and what kind of guy he would be sharing room 207 with. 

Ed's smile faded off as Kevin disappeared. A moment later he dropped his boxes, letting them lean in their tower against the side of the building as he picked up his sponges meticulously one by one, placing them back into their box in a careful order known only to him. The toast was stuffed in a pocket as the box was sealed once more, picked up and tossed easily on top of the stack. On the side of every box in Double D's meticulous script was the list of the contents of each container, usually a jumble of assorted things ending in "Miscellaneous". On the adjacent sides of each box, in big block-type symbols, were Greek characters identical to the ones emblazoned on the side of the building itself.

When the door opened, Ed turned in place and slapped the Urban Rangers salute to his forehead in the shape of an L over his eye. "Ready to move in!"

Kevin, still smiling, stepped outside and approached the big Ed. He was about to ask him for his room assignment slip when he saw the recognizable symbols carefully draw on the side of every box. Kevin slapped his hand over his mouth and let out a muffled scream. OCD Double Dweeb was unlikely to make a mistake copying from the Frat invitation Ed received.

Kevin breathed slowly, all wasn't lost, he'd be okay as long as they weren't sharing a room and Ed understood that they were not going to hang out together. He could show he was a nice guy to the brothers by helping Ed to his room and that was it. He might be able to avoid Ed for the most part and he'd just connect to someone else. He hoped there was an Edward among the brothers. Ed would stick to him like glue.

"Let me see your room assignment big fella and we'll get you moved in."

Ed's tongue protruded from the corner of his mouth as he fished in the recesses of his foul-smelling, unfathomable jeans pockets until he finally came up with an abused-looking, stained and greasy piece of paper, which nearly fell apart as it was handed over to Kevin.

There it was, in black and white...or off-white...or whatever color that disquieting stain was...room 207. Ed smiled proudly as he handed over the paper then once more hefted his stack of boxes and pushed the door that Kevin had left open, carrying his belongings into the frat house to the room he would be sharing with the bully of the Cul de Sac.

Kevin stood in silence as he stared at the paper, or what was left of it. He crumpled it and stormed in after Ed. He'd have to do something about it. This was totally not cool. He could not spend a year of more in the same room as that big stupid dork. He'd be damned if he let him ruin this for him.

He reached his... _their_ room. Kevin cringed at the thought. No, he would still be in charge. Ed would have to listen to him. He'd lay down the law and have no problems out of him. If Eddy could do it, so could he.

It seemed that he had established himself already, the biggest Ed's belongings seeming to have exploded out of their boxes all over exactly half of the shared room. It looked like a clone of his old bedroom, sans the lack of light. That was easily rectified though as a monster B-movie poster was taped up over his half of the window. He stood observing the mess with his hands on his hips, staring for a moment then nodding and turning around. There was a piece of toast sticking out of his mouth, half-chewed and slightly dripping with butter. There was no telling where he'd gotten it from that fast.

"All done!" he said cheerfully then picked up a comic off the immense stack sitting near the foot of his bed, sitting on the floor and opening it to start reading contently.

Kevin groaned and shut the door. He sat on his bed in a huff and glared at the other side of the room, now transformed into a dump. Not Good. He was going to have a problem and he needed a solution _now_. If he went and tried to get a room change, the brothers would either call him a pussy and make a scene or Ed would bother him about it.

"Hey Dork, we need to set some ground rules here." Kevin let his eyes take in all the clutter and junk that had somehow so quickly invaded the space. "Keep your crap on your side. One crumb and I'm giving you a pounding you won't forget" Kevin rubbed his temples a little.

"And don't even think of filling the tub with gravy or the freezer with crap. I'm not going to put up with it and neither will the brothers." Kevin laid back on his bed feeling drained; it was just too hot for this. He shut his eyes and sighed.

"But where will I keep it?" Ed pouted a little as he held open his jacket and fished into it, pulling out of some unknown recesses a handful of crumpled gravy mix packages. He blinked at Kevin's groan and stepped into his side of the room, blinking owlishly in the brightened light then plopping his bottom down onto his new roommate's bed, patting his hat. "Don't worry, I'll share."

Kevin opened his eyes and glared at Ed. He grabbed the offending arm at the wrist and pulled it away from his trademark red ball cap. "Get back on your side, man. I don't care where you keep that gravy it as long as it stays on you side of the room." Kevin let Ed go and sat up to lean against the wall his bed was against. It wasn't much cooler. 

He got off the bed and walked past Ed to the window, he pulled the curtain on his side to cover the rest of the window and hoped the darkness would take the edge off this humid heat. "I need a shower, don't do anything you shouldn't while I'm in there."

Ed wrapped a hand around his own wrist, looking down at the light, already fading prints in his yellowish skin then hopping up off Kevin's bed, heading back to his own and opening his comic book once more. He gave a chuckle and flipped the page, smiling widely at nothing in particular as the woman on the page was disemboweled.

Soon though, his attention span got the better of him and he was up once more, pottering around the room, until he saw something...shiny! One hand wrapped around the bar at the foot of Kevin's bed and heaved it up off the ground completely, allowing him to bend down and pick up the shiny in question. It was square, flexible, and had a helmet on the front. Tilting his head a bit at it, Ed dropped the bed with a thunderous noise and went back to his own side of the room then gnawed the square open to find a circle. He poked the center, then laughed as it unrolled, stretching it out over his hand then pulling it tight. There was oily stuff on the outside and it shot from between his fingers and across the room, hitting the opposite wall with a wet *smack*. Immediately Ed chased after it then stood in the middle of the room with the thing in hand, examining it.

Then he blew it up and tied the end. He had a new balloon!

Kevin came out of the bathroom still wet with a towel on his shoulders. He'd managed to grow his red hair back out and it clung to his neck dripping with cold, refreshing water. Kevin blinked in the dim light and saw Ed playing with something long in middle of the room. He thought he'd heard something.

He approached Ed and couldn't help letting out a yell when he saw said inflated object in the dork's hands. He looked a way for a moment hoping he's imagined it and groaned at the spot on the wall. "Ed! Stop that right now. You don't play with those, man." Kevin crossed over and stood on his own side of the room hat in hand. He stood before Ed trying to figure out the best way to handle this.

Ed stopped in the act of pulling the thing longer and looked at Kevin with his usual slightly braindead expression, his arm still moving back until the inflated latex in his hands burst, sending the stretched thing flying backward out of his hand and into the window. It left a small, greasy spot then fell to the floor in a sad little heap. Ed mourned it for all of about three seconds.

He scratched a bit at the scrub of beard sprouting from his chin then shrugged off his jacket and stood in the red and white-striped tshirt that seemingly hadn't changed since the days of his youth. His jeans continued to droop off his narrow, bony hips for lack of a belt.

"Then what do you do in here?" Ed asked. At least his vocabulary and basic understanding and comprehension had improved...somewhat.

Kevin winced when the burst condom struck the window. Okay, he could handle that question, much better than the one he'd been afraid of answering. He dropped his hat on his bed and sat down on the edge and turned back to Ed.

"I'm going to listen to some tunes, you can go back to your monster comics. We're supposed to live here so we have to use this place to study, do homework, cool down after practices. Since we don't have class until tomorrow or practice until later this week. I just want to kick back in this heat.

"Don't go poking your nose into my stuff again, man. You'll regret it. You can do what you want on your side." Kevin put the towel on his pillow and pulled out an iPod out of his sports bag and laid down on the bed. He smirked as his rock took him away from this room, for even just a little while.

"Boring," Ed said in an off-tune sing-song voice but flopped down on his bed anyway, wrestling his shoes off and filling the room with a noxious odor. Before it could get too bad though he opened the window, mostly on instinct from the numerous times that he'd watched as Double D and Eddy turn strange colors and run for fresh air. When he'd managed to subdue his socks and shove them into his shoes as well he tucked them both neatly under the bed and picked up his comic as told, going back to reading for the time being.

Then the door was pounded on and thrown open. It seemed there was no peace to be had in the frat house at that point, now that the other boys had gotten wind of the newest pledge.

Kevin leapt up off the bed at the sound of the intrusion. He let the ear buds fall and put his hat back on. "What's up bros? Some weather, huh? Name's Kevin, I'm pleased to meet you guys and be a part of the best Frat on campus."

Kevin knew the best way to greet these older brothers was to make them feel big and important, and also pretend that he thought they had nothing to do with the lack of AC. He hoped Ed wouldn't do anything to make them think less of him or consider making the hazing worse than it needed to be. "This is my roommate Ed, we grew up in the same neighborhood. Small world, huh? Ed, get up and say hi to the bros."

Ed's body twisted seemingly through the air as his bed bowed then bounced up and he was on his feet in front of the door, looking down at the nearest frat boy, seeing as he stood a full inch over the tallest one's head. This was great! The one in the beanie was skinny and reminded him of Double D, though he didn't look nearly as smart. Maybe he'd be friendly?

He yelped when Ed gave him a bone-crushing hug then put him back down. The other boys gave him a strange look then stared back at Kevin. These two grew up together? Already Kevin was looking like a grade-A ass-kisser. That, they could work with. But this guy, with the single eyebrow and the smile big enough to fit two faces?

Kevin's eyes widened and he clenched his fists. "Ed! Back up, man and sit back down." Kevin could feel his heart racing. He'd considered lying about knowing Ed, but he'd doubted that Ed would go along with it. He hoped the big lug would follow orders and quit this. He noted the beanie and realized why it happened. He thought better of telling them he'd just thought one of them looked like an old friend. He hated sucking up, but now was not the time to show a spine, not until he was a full brother.

"Sorry guys, he's kind of slow. He takes orders well, though." Kevin smirked and hoped that this worked. "Hey Ed, why don't you show them that old scout salute you and your dork friends used to do?"

Ed blinked for a moment and just watched Kevin until a light switched on and he straightened up with the L against his forehead over his brow. He looked back at the brothers as a couple of them started to laugh.

"That's good bro. What, this guy trained or some shit?"

Trained? A light bulb went on in Kevin's head and he grinned and pulled his cap down in the front a little. "Sure is, bros. He'll do anything I say. He doesn't mean any harm guys, he's just a little too friendly some times." Kevin stood beside Ed and put his hand on his shoulder. This might work out.

He hoped that would be enough to get the brothers off his back. Even if he felt he could deal with the small group before him, a larger group was no doubt hanging around. "Any word on when the AC's going to be fixed? I mean we're all paying dues for this aren't we? If not, anything we need to do today?"

The other brothers continued to watch Ed warily, the one straightening his hat finally getting his breath back and smiling faintly, his arms crossing over his chest. Ed had dropped his hand by now and was just looking around at all of them, his brow rising slightly at Kevin. He started to open his mouth, until one of the boys at the door cut across him.

"The AC needs to be replaced so we're all gonna continue to boil until either we can all chip in for a new one, or wait until maintenance gets their asses up here to replace it themselves and that will still cost us. So what d'you got to help us along, hmm?"

Kevin bit back a scowl and forced it to a grin. Beer money, he thought. It could really be broken but he knew that a notice to be given if they had to pay for a repair. He doubted Ed had any cash on hand and Kevin just wanted them to leave before he decided this was no longer worth the trouble and start knocking some heads together.

"How about $40, twenty from both of us? Ed hasn't got his bank stuff squared away yet. He'll pay me back later." Kevin pulled the two twenties from his wallet. He had more on him, but he hoped this would pacify them. There were, he knew, at least 8 double rooms on each floor and they had four floors. No way could a new one run them more than everyone putting $20 in. The school would have to cover half or more. He didn't want to set a price that Ed couldn't pay and it was just easier for him to pay this and some peace was worth $40 to Kevin right now.

The boy in the lead of the group crowding their doorway held up the money and gave Kevin a rather smug look, then clapped him on the shoulder and shook him a bit. "Much obliged, new guy. Just hope you can trust your buddy here to pay you back like you say."

With that, they were gone, a couple of them looking back over their shoulders at the two of them, Ed with a rather blank expression until he turned back to Kevin and dug into his pocket, hauling out a stained, rather smelly athletic sock bulging with so much change, the seams were splitting and a few dimes fell out of the holes near the bottom. "Here, take my sock."

Kevin turned a pale shade of green and backed off a little. "Consider it on the house, man, I just wanted some peace more than the cash. Keep it so you can do your laundry." Kevin plopped back down on his bed. "I really don't like the look of those guys." He stared at the ceiling thinking of the long years ahead of him.

He laid there for a moment before frowning. "If you behave around those guys and stay out of trouble, Dad's sending some jawbreakers in my first care package. You can have 'em." Kevin lowered his hat over his eyes and put his buds back in. "It is still about two hours until chow, you might want to relax for a while. Wake me up if I fall asleep in this heat."

Ed's face broke into another wide smile as he did a strange sort of wiggle dance in place, delighted by the prospect of another few cavities. He flopped back down onto his bed and stretched out, picking up his comic and reading with his head hanging over the edge of the bed. His hair was a good deal longer than it had been the last time Kevin had seen him, now having enough bangs to fall to his eyebrow and thus fall upward (downward?) from his brow toward the floor. He let the change sock fall to the floor with a loud, clattering thump and occupied himself even as he heard the boys downstairs and up starting to make a lot more noise now that it was starting to cool down just a little.

Kevin sighed and sat up. He pulled a fresh pair of pants and a shirt from a bag; he hadn't felt like finishing unpacking yet. To tell the truth, he'd had the feeling he'd get homesick before the week was out. That might be the only good thing about having Ed around he could think of, other than knowing what kind of roommate he had and not having to worry about much else yet.

"Sounds like everyone is getting rowdy now, dork. You gonna shower before we go to dinner? I'll wait." Kevin had finished stripping down to his black boxers. He was sporting a tribal pattern on his upper left arm that looked a little like black flames circling his bicep. He'd gotten that to piss his old man off and then sprung the scholarship on him to confuse the bastard. He still wasn't sure exactly why he'd done it. He glanced over at Ed and blinked a bit. It was weird seeing Ed's hair that long; he'd forgotten they were both redheads. In fact, there'd been a lot of red heads in the cul de sac.

Ed looked away from the comic, focusing on Kevin and looking at the design around his arm, rather intrigued but he flipped upright and headed for the bathroom, mostly out of something to do before he had to go down and see the other boys again. Before they'd left high school, Double D had basically pounded it into his head how important bathing regularly was in college, lest he should get something called..."crabs". He hadn't understood that, but just about every time he went to take a shower, Ed checked himself over for little red crustaceans, though in some part of his mind he was sure there were other things to look for instead of what he normally saw on seafood buffets.

With that in mind, Ed stripped down, leaving his jeans and shirt in a heap on the bathroom floor, followed by his briefs, brand new but already turning grey. He showered down rather quickly, using Kevin's wash, and coming back with his towel around his waist. He looked downright noodly when he wore his clothes as baggy as he did, but now that he had nothing on at all, the rather enviable musculature beneath strangely yellow skin was made visible. He wasn't exactly ripped, but when he bent and flexed to put on his clothes Kevin could have seen just how good a shape Ed was actually in.

Kevin had finished putting on a black shirt and a crisp new pair of jeans and turned when he saw Ed come out of the bathroom and couldn't help but stare. He was a bit jealous of the bulk Ed had. He worked out all the time and still couldn't build much on his frame. He wasn't a twig like Edd, but he wasn't anywhere near Ed's build. He sat on the bed watching Ed and realized just how much the dork had cleaned up since Junior High.

With a strange goopy liquid fished from the confines of one of his boxes, Ed took the time to style his hair up in the most haphazard fashion, spiked up and laying in a sort of messy fauxhawk. He straightened his elderly green jacket over a new white tshirt and pulled up his jeans, which immediately began to droop. He flicked a thumbs-up to Kevin, along with his usual bright smile. "Ready when you are, Mister!"

He got up when Ed threw him the thumbs-up. "Well you clean up pretty well now, don't you?" Kevin couldn't help cracking a small smile. He motioned for Ed to follow and the two exited the frat house and started walking across campus in the direction of the cafeteria. He hoped the food was still as good as it had been during orientation and the tours. He wondered if he was going to have to babysit the dork for the whole year or if maybe, just maybe he could learn to trust him to his own devices. Of course he wasn't counting on Ed being much for the course work.

"Hey, what are you majoring in?" Kevin decided to strike up a little conversation as they traversed the grounds. "I'm undecided myself, got all year though to declare."

Ed's head swiveled around, trying to look at everything at once as he followed Kevin, pulling at the hem of his shirt and starting to drool a little when he caught a whiff of the food, slowing down a little when he heard just how crowded the cafeteria was. It was just like high school, he had to keep telling himself as he followed Kevin inside and immediately gravitated to a short line to a buffet that was crammed with people queuing to get pizza. He paid a little extra to get what looked like half a box piled onto his plate, then looked back at his roommate and shrugged a little. "Dunno yet. Double D said that something to do with sports medicine would suit me best...Doesn't that mean bandages n' things?"

"A bit more to it than that, it would let you be an athlete trainer among other stuff." Kevin decided against trying to judge how well Ed could pull it off until after they started their coursework. Kevin turned away from the queue after getting his food and drink and looked for their soon to-be-brothers. He knew they'd have to sit near them. He led Ed to the far left end of a table full of them where a few of the other new pledges ate nervously. Kevin sat down like he'd been there for years and casually began to eat and let his eyes roam the area. He caught glimpses of some of the other frats and some of the sororities. He also saw the other cliques filing in and some of them taking their food to go. Some things never changed. He dreaded the beginning of classes and practice, which would put an end to most of this down time.

He'd have to decide what he was going to do with the rest of his life; he was still so damn unsure and that scared the hell out of him. He glanced at Ed and hoped he wasn't making a pig of himself or at least was taking his time and chewing and wiping his mouth.

"Dunno if I could do all that," Ed said as he continued to look around with wide eyes, half of a piece of pizza hanging out of his mouth, a stringer of cheese connecting the part in his mouth to that in his hand. He chewed thoughtfully, then shoved the crust into his mouth and swallowed it all down with a third of his can of soda. He smiled a little in response to the impressed looks the guys gave him, as well as the disgusted looks from the girls and the tall, thin and decidedly feminine guys with them. He looked back to Kevin then blinked at the look on his face. "Something wrong?"

Kevin snapped out of his train of thought when Ed spoke to him. "It was nothing, just thinking about classes and stuff." He tried to push the fear and the nagging in his mind aside. "Don't sweat it until you try it, you're more likely to be able to do sports medicine than full medicine. Plus if you don't want to be a trainer it could always make you a ref or weight trainer or something. You've got the build for it."

Kevin took another bite of his slice and decided that he wasn't sure about staying in sports. It got him a ride into college but he didn't like worrying do damn much about injuries. He had kind of wanted to open a bike shop, but with the economy in the tank it would have been a big risk. He tried to shake it off but it was hard to stop scaring himself with this once he got started, the thoughts just seemed to pour in. Not like his Dad had helped any either. He'd pushed him to do all the sports possible until now and never thought about along term career. His Dad would be disappointed if he did anything other than be a big star.

"And then you can stick with your team too and if you get yourself hurt I can take care of you," Ed smiled and reached over, patting Kevin's back and leaving a light, greasy hand print on his shirt from the pizza, then blinking and trying to wipe it off with a napkin while onlookers sniggered a little at the display. He pulled on his collar a little as he scooted back over, picking up his pizza and returning to masticating it once more. He had no illusions that he would go anywhere great even if he did accomplish something to do with sports medicine. But at least he had a goal he could shoot for. At least, that's what Edd would have said. Eddy would have started looking up how much money he could have gotten through each profession, but all Ed was concerned with was...well, not much of anything, to be honest. Just keeping himself alive through College.

Kevin felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at the unwanted attention they were now getting. It wasn't his fault Ed was so physical. Regretted the black shirt now, he gently gripped Ed's wrist and placed his hand back on his side of the table. He knew if he made little of the contact, that maybe everyone else would let it go. 

"Well I'll bet you won't even need a stretcher to lug some of the bigger dudes when they fall on the field." Kevin pointed out, still trying very hard to stay casual. Ed considered that for a moment, then smiled and shrugged once more before working his way slowly through the rest of his pizza, stretching out the cheese then letting it coil in his mouth. Part of Kevin wanted to scream at Ed over the whole scene but another part of him liked having someone familiar around. He couldn't say why but he found himself missing Rolf more than Nazz. He had forced himself to smirk but it was just that: forced. He felt very dark and broody now and knew he had to just chill out and take some time to figure things out. He also knew better than to mention to this Frat that he didn't really want to go out for pro anything. He almost felt like running out of there now, but he had no excuse and didn't feel right leaving Ed alone here yet. And for that matter why did he care what happened to Ed all of a sudden? He decided he really was getting homesick and just felt out of place in such a big community.

It took a few moments for him to notice the slight change in Kevin's demeanor and when he did, he wasn't sure what to do about it. It wasn't like he knew what was going through Kevin's mind. He took it as something physical and wondered whether he should try and get his roommate an aspirin or perhaps some bismuth.

It was strange, but for all he and the other Eds had avoided Kevin at home, he wanted to stay around the other guy just so he had something familiar around, even if he couldn't exactly relate to him.

Kevin was happy to see that some of the brothers as well as the pledges were starting to leave and that they didn't have to wait on anything in particular. He still wasn't sure of all the damn group rules yet. He knew they had to go to meetings and do a certain amount of study time in the library each week and attend most if not all of the events. He just hoped every dinner didn't need to be with this group. 

He motioned at Ed and pointed to the door before getting up and putting his plate and tray onto the washing conveyor belt. He stood beside a lamp pole outside waiting for Ed to come out and as he leaned against it he lowered the brim of his hat to cover his eyes and he looked downward. He had to wonder what he'd have done if he had had no one here he knew. Ed was a small foundation that might help him and out here, he could see that now. This whole college thing was just getting real to him and that reality was scary as fuck. 

"Shit," he muttered softly and he kicked a nearby rock into the grass.

The large, slightly overheated frame of his roommate leaned against the same pole, Ed's eyes turned upward as Kevin's were turned down. He made a small, thoughtful noise then poked the other boy in the side, then pointed at the groups that all seemed to be flooding in one direction, the crowd growing then once more seeming to disperse, all heading toward frat or sorority houses, apartments, parents' houses, or out partying. One group of boys was already whooping and there Ed just stood, watching it all and suddenly, he felt very alone. It was just him here, no Edd, no Eddy, and Kevin...hell, Kevin didn't really like him so it wasn't like he could really rely on him either. His face, always so incredibly expressive, seemed to fall dramatically.

He wasn't afraid of college. He'd just realized how terribly alone he really was.

Kevin looked up with a slight jerk at the prod and watched the crowds going off in their own directions. He frowned and shook his head. He didn't feel like celebrating like the ones obviously heading to the local bars and he'd be damned if he would be caught consuming alcohol as a minor and blow everything. He looked at Ed and saw the dejected look on his face. Kevin winced and frowned. He looked around real quick and saw no one in sight. 

"It'll be alright, Dorky. I think this thing is just hitting us both hard tonight." Kevin did something at that moment that normally he would have never would have considered doing, but Ed looked very dejected and he was feeling very gloomy himself. Kevin put his hand on Ed's shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. "I'll look out for you, if you'll look out for me." Kevin let his hand drop and turned his face away from Ed. "You know, seeing as we're in this together and all." He shuffled his feet a little.

Ed looked back around his shoulder and just for a moment, considered hugging Kevin right in the middle of campus, but for once he seemed to be thinking and so, held himself in, just leaning more heavily into the light post as he lifted a hand and patted the back of the one Kevin had on his shoulder. He straightened up, or at least slouched in a different direction as he looked toward their dorm, which was sure to be deserted, save for the other pledges.

"Everybody's gone," he said quietly then scratched at his hair, messing up the gelled style but it barely made a difference.

"Yeah, sure looks like it. Want to head back or take a walk around campus? I don't really care which right now. I'm still kind of out of it, man." Kevin wasn't sure how today he'd had such a drastic change in attitude towards Ed. Maybe the heat had fried his brain or maybe it was the pack mentality of the frat making him cling to the only person he could even think of trusting right now. He had to admire the dork's new found sense of control today though. He'd grown up some since those lazy summer days so long ago.

"You've grown up some haven't you?" Kevin glanced upward at the clear night with a visible star here and there and he kind of wished there wasn't as much light pollution.

"That's what Double D said too," Ed mused then seemed to shrug mentally and stretched his arms up over his head, seeming to shake off his funk just as quickly as it'd settled over him. He grabbed Kevin's arm and dragged him a little ways before he could pull away. "I wanna swim! Where's the pool?" He knew there was supposed to be one on the campus for the swim team and seemingly for no reason at all, he felt like splashing, making noise, doing laps.

"Pool?" Kevin could help but smile at the idea. A swim sounded perfect. "Well the indoor one would probably be closed by now, but we could get in the outdoor one. I remember where it is too." He remembered seeing it while on a orientation tour. He was glad he still had his certified lifeguard/CPR card on him, even if they pool was empty he could go at night and not catch much flack about there being no life guard on duty. "This way, man," he took off down a sidewalk to the left of the sidewalk intersection between the cafeteria and the frat houses. "It isn't very far and I'll bet the water is cool."

Ed chuckled happily and hopped right on after Kevin, seeming to bounce excitedly on the balls of his feet as a small child might until he could smell the chlorine of the pool. He hopped up when they reached the fence around it, looking at the shimmering water and grinning. He would have hopped the fence right then if Kevin hadn't already started toward the gate. He followed behind and started stripping his shirt off, leaving it and his jacket in a heap at the edge of the pool, then left his shoes and socks in a haphazard line leading up to it. "Last one in is an octopus' booger!" he laughed then cannonballed into the water in his jeans.

Kevin was in soon after, having shed all but his boxers. The water was very refreshing and for the first time today Kevin felt like he could really relax. He took a beep breath before submerging himself for a moment and coming back to the surface. Kevin kicked a few times and propelled himself over to the ladder at the deep end. He sat on one of the rungs so that the water was just over halfway up his chest. "This was a good idea."

Ed was floating in circles on his back with a large, content smile, his legs kicking idly as his arms waved on either side of him. He made a quiet sound of agreement, then dove down into the water and touched the bottom of the deep end. A thin trail of bubbles followed him, then ceased. Before Kevin could worry though, the ginger blob of Ed's hair floated into view in front of him, then rose up and drifted to the side with his arms propped up on the warm cement around the edge of the pool.

Kevin watched as Ed dove and came back to the surface. He was glad Ed was a good swimmer, he really didn't feel like trying to drag him up out of the bottom. Kevin pushed off the ladder and began to float on his back. "Having fun?" Maybe Ed's company wasn't so bad now. He'd mellowed out and calmed down some. Kevin thought he might be able to get used to this. The year ahead still looked rough, but having a pool to chill out at when he needed it might be just the thing to help his damn nerves.

"Mmyep." Ed yawned then dipped back down into the water, sinking down to his shoulders then poking Kevin in the side, chuckling and diving under then floating away. He reappeared on the other side of the pool, then pulled himself up out of the water holding up his jeans with one hand as the weight of the water tried to drag them down. Water spread in a puddle around his feet as he looked back around at the empty lawn, his chin propped on the bar. He squinted at a group that seemed to be heading their way but he couldn't tell who it was. Whoever they were, they sounded drunk.

"Um...Kevin? We gotta go," Ed started, slipping a little as he scrambled back toward the pool, tripping and falling in headfirst.

Kevin had sprang the rest of the way up the ladder at the poke and scowled but then dashed for his clothes when Ed pointed out the group. "Shit," he muttered when he saw that Ed had fallen back in. He dove back in and swam towards where Ed was coming up and helped him back to the edge where they both managed to pull themselves out. Kevin just slipped back into his shoes and bundled everything else into his pants and tied the legs together. He motioned for Ed to follow and they quickly hopped the back fence and took off running.

Ed's clothes flapped behind him, his jeans repeatedly falling down about his thighs only to be yanked back up as he ran, passing Kevin up easily but reaching back and grabbing his arm in order to hasten their escape. He bit into his lower lip as he looked around, eyes wide as he spotted the frat house. Behind them a few people had chosen to chase after them, yelling but it was clear that whoever it was didn't recognize them in the dark. For that, he was thankful, knowing that if they were caught, something bad was gonna happen. He didn't know what, and that only spurred him on faster.

Kevin felt his legs leave the ground as Ed pulled him along behind him. His heart was racing in panic. No telling what the drunken guys would have done to them just for kicks. He planted his feet when they neared the entrance. "Ed, cool it man, let's not rush in. I think we lost them." Kevin opened the door and was thankful to hear the first floor living room TV blaring. The two slipped up to the second floor unnoticed and into their room. Kevin shut the door behind them.

"Man that was close and scary." Kevin locked it and just dropped his clothes and sat on the floor, still shaken. "I hope they didn't see us come in here...don't know why getting drunk makes people do such stupid shit. I don't want to know what they wanted to do."

When the door was closed Ed was still staring around, wringing his jacket between his hands then slinking to his bed and settling into it. He reached into one of his pockets and took out a crumpled red and white pack, lifting it in trembling fingers and pulling a slightly bent but otherwise perfectly smokeable cigarette. He crept over to the window and cracked it then fished an abused black lighter from his jeans pocket. He tried several times to light it but it was soaked through. He looked at Kevin with large eyes. "Got a light?"

Kevin looked up as he was sorting out the bundle of clothes and saw the cigarette in Ed's hand. "You know Double Dork would have a fit if he knew you were smoking now." Kevin didn't much like the idea of him smoking either but he wasn't going to deny a stressed Ed one cigarette, especially not now that said Ed was much bulkier than him. He dropped his clothes on his bed and opened his suitcase and after digging through for a bit pulled out a red disposable lighter. He didn't smoke but he also never knew when he might need a lighter for one reason or another. "Keep it." He pulled a towel out of one of his other bags and started to dry his hair. Ed snagged the lighter out of the air and flicked it on, lighting the cigarette and taking a long drag, his eyes drifting closed for a moment. He blew the smoke out the window then looked back at Kevin with the cigarette between his fingers. "Double D doesn't know...I didn't start hanging out with May until after he left for college and she started and she got me to start," he explained then took another drag.

"You two date?" Kevin asked curiously, remembering the weird little blonde Kanker sister. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he added. Kevin was a little bothered by Ed being so willing to start doing something like that so easily. "They're bad for you, man, hard to quit." Kevin found himself frowning now and wasn't sure why. He sat on the towel on his bed and watched Ed take a drag off it. "Don't let the Coach see you, he'll probably make you run laps or something, same goes for the brothers. I won't tell anyone."

Ed waved a hand a bit and looked out the window at the noise outside. "We did for a little while but it wasn't like anything was serious and when we broke up it was mutual so there's nothing bad between us." He looked down at the glowing end of his cigarette. "It's ok, May taught me how to hide it. She kept it from Lee and Marie until Marie started too. But thanks for not telling on me..."

"I don't rat people out, man." Kevin ran a hand through his still lightly damp hair and frowned. "Sounds like what happened with me and Nazz. All those years when we were kids I thought I was in love with her, but I really wasn't. I think it had to do with her being the only girl my age around. We're still friends but things got complicated while we were dating and we found some things out about each other and it just couldn't go on afterwards." Kevin looked at the ceiling as he heard what sound like people on the third floor roughhousing some.

"Found out some things?" Now that had piqued Ed's interest. He'd never really paid attention but it did seem like Nazz and Kevin had spent a lot of time together. He looked at Kevin with his brow raised, the cigarette half-smoked dangling from his fingers out the window to let the ash fall outside. He looked up at the noise as well then laughed as he heard someone singing a song from a movie he'd watched when he was younger. He sang along for a little bit before remembering that he'd asked Kevin a question.

Kevin realized too late that he had said something that he shouldn't have. He frowned and laid back on his bed. "Well..." He paused and listened to Ed sing along for a bit and felt relived that he'd lost interest but then Ed turned back to him...

"It is complicated. I... We..." Kevin shut his eyes. Should he tell Ed this? "We couldn't stay together because I figured out that I really didn't like Nazz in that way. I was just fooling myself. I found her irritating when we actually tried to talk about a lot of things and well... she just didn't... I wasn't really physically attracted to her after all. All my daydreaming turned out to be nothing more than me playing tricks on myself. I was in love with what I wanted us to be, not what we really became.

"I'll put it this way: I didn't really know myself that well until after Nazz and me dated." He hoped that would be enough for Ed.

Ed sat up in the middle of his bed after sticking the filter of the cigarette into his pocket, just looking at Kevin blankly for a long moment. It looked as if he either didn't understand, or he'd stopped listening. Then he frowned slightly.

Jimmy had said just about the same thing the last time he and Sarah had spoken face-to-face. Sarah had cried. Ed wondered just what Nazz had done.

"If you're not the Kevin you thought you were then what kind of Kevin are you?" he asked after a bit longer, his thumbs twiddling in his lap.

Kevin bit his lip and laid back on the bed, he covered his eyes with an arm and thought for a moment. "I've been trying since I was a little kid to be popular and well liked. I've been doing what is expected of me in that role, being that Kevin. Everything from trying to do all those sports at once to my crush on Nazz... I haven't been trying to figure out what I want. Everything up until now has all been to impress everyone, especially my Dad and my friends."

"Maybe you need to try not impressing anyone but you," Ed commented as he pulled another cigarette from his pack, lighting it and sighing quietly after he took a drag, a drift of smoke obscuring his face for a moment. "Or you could try being like me and don't impress anybody at all." He grinned back at Kevin then balanced the butt of the first cigarette on the end of his nose. "Just be...the opposite of you."

"But I don't know who the hell I am and that's just fucking pathetic." Kevin sat up and looked down at his feet. "And don't say that, you've impressed me today, man..." Kevin took his hat back off and ran a hand through his long hair. "Growing my hair out is about the only thing I've done for me lately." Kevin laid back down and stared at the ceiling. He wished they hadn't been interrupted at the pool.

Ed put out his cigarette on his tongue then tucked it behind his ear, walking over to Kevin's bed and running a rough hand through the guy's hair, messing it up a little worse then trying to smooth it back into place. "You've got hat hair..."

Kevin shut his eyes at the rough caress. "You're making it worse, man. I only wear it out of habit now." On one hand he wanted Ed to stop and on the other was enjoying the first real contact he'd had with anyone in a while. He didn't know why he didn't want Ed to stop, he even found himself leaning into the contact.

"Oh, sorry..." Ed dropped his hand, looking around for a moment then licking his palm and once more trying to get Kevin's hair to lie flat much as his parents had when he was young. It had never worked, but it was the thought that counted, right?

He stopped when he heard the front door of the house crash open, his eyes widening as he whirled around, seeming to battle the urge to run to the other side of the room and either hide or arm himself. Or both.

Kevin leapt up off the bed and pulled his shirt and pants back on, then crossed the room to their locked dorm door. He listened to see if he could hear what was happening downstairs. He realized that he was shaking and he looked at Ed who was still standing stock-still beside his bed. "Relax, maybe it is just someone coming in after a few too many. It probably has nothing to do with us." Kevin wasn't sure it believed that himself, but there was a little comfort in saying it.

"Or what if someone put something in their drinks and turned them into some kind of zombie out to eat the new guys?" Ed shivered and crept toward his own bed, digging under it for what looked like a rubber chicken that had been put through a blender then covered in metal. It wasn't entirely implausible, in his mind. After all, when Double D had been warning him about what to look out for in college, things going into his drink had been one of the major ones.

Zombies, no, but Kevin had to admit he couldn't rule out psychotropic drugs or even the beginning of hazing. He had hoped that this frat would have nothing more than what they were supposed to do, he hoped he was still right and they weren't about to be dragged off to do who knows what. "You could be kind of right. I doubt they're zombies but they could be violent. I locked the door already so let's hope they stay on the first floor." Kevin walked over to Ed and put his hand on the taller male's shoulder. "We'll get through this together, just stick with me. Don't let them make you do anything you don't want to do." Kevin was only going to put up with so much shit. Ed's fear was pissing him off. He scowled and held himself in an aggressive stance when he turned back to the door to listen and wait.

Ed looked back and forth from Kevin to the door, biting into his lower lip then copying Kevin's stance, facing down the door until the noise just seemed to stop. That's what scared him more than anything, when he couldn't get a read on where the other 'brothers' were in the house. Even the volume on the TV downstairs had been lowered. If there was to be hazing that night, he sincerely hoped it would be done to someone else. Just then he wanted to glue himself to a shadow and stay there hoping not to be seen.

He wished Eddy and Edd were here.

Kevin kept his breathing even as he watched the door, he retrieved his hat off his bed and turned it backwards on his head for good measure. He put his scowl back on and turned to Ed for a moment. "I'm turning the light out so that if they go to open the door we'll have an advantage. If things get too rough run or hide somewhere. I'll find you." Kevin didn't know why he felt so pissed right now instead of scared like Ed. 

He made his way over to the door and leaned against the wall, he turned out the light and waited. He would deck anyone if they picked the lock and wouldn't look back. He wasn't going to take any of that extreme hazing crap without a fight. They'd have to drag him against his will. He'd go to functions and dinners and events, that was fine, but there was no way in hell he was going to do some stupid shit like let them tie him up or worse.

Ed continued to chew on his lower lip, glancing between Kevin's silhouette, the light under the door, and the window, wondering if they might have to flee through it. He knew how to make a makeshift ladder out of his and Kevin's bedclothes if need be. He fidgeted for a few moments longer then crept forward and pressed the side of his face to the door to listen out for approaching footsteps, then stared around and retrieved a cup from the floor. He pressed the open end to the door and his ear to the end. It was still woefully silent.

"Kevin, did they pass out...?"

"I don't know." Kevin whispered. He squeezed Ed's shoulder a little. "Relax, we don't know what's going on, maybe they passed out. Let's sit down." He led Ed over to his bed and sat down with him then gripped Ed's hand and stilled strained to hear any noise in the darkness. He knew he might need to distract him a little to get him to relax. 

"I did figure out why I preferred to obsess over my bike to trying and woo Nazz when we were kids... Bikes can't reject you and no one thinks less of a guy for always fixing up a bike or car, especially not my Dad."

"Girls should know how to fix cars and things too," Ed commented, reaching into his pocket with his free hand, taking out his battered pack of cigarettes, having forgotten the one half-smoked behind his ear. He paused though, registering just a little too late that Kevin's hand was still gripped around his one between them. He glanced down, then back up at Kevin, at the door, Kevin, their hands, and what else he'd wanted to say, he couldn't remember anymore. So he said something else.

"It's too bad you don't smoke too but Coach would get mad at you and I would run out too fast anyway..."

"Dad would kill me quicker than the Coach for it..." Kevin noticed he was still holding Ed's hand and he pulled it away, settling for keeping his hands in his lap. "Dad drinks a lot and it messes him up. I'm afraid to try anything addictive. Bad addictions run in my family." Kevin rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He glanced at the cigarette with a weak smirk. "If it comes up, just show him it hasn't affected you." He tried to take steady breaths; he didn't know what was wrong with him but his heart had started to race. "I wonder what went on out there. I still don't hear anything."

Ed's brow furrowed as he finally just focused on Kevin's face then pulled his hand back into his own lap when it was released. He re-lit his cigarette and scooted over toward the window to smoke without being annoying. He tweezed the butt of the cigarette between his fingers and fiddled with it, his leg bouncing nervously. He looked down at the floor at Kevin's comment. "Maybe they found someone else to torture," he mused, imagining something involving thumbscrews and an Iron Maiden.

Looking back out the window, he swallowed and let his eyes fall closed, finally managing to calm down enough to lay his head against the wall, nevermind the greasy spot left in his wake. He looked at his reflection, then that of his roommate.

"I said earlier I'd take care of you if you got hurt..."

Kevin could see Ed a bit now that his eyes were used to the sparse moonlight coming in from the crack between the poster and curtain. "And I said we'd look out for each other. Nothing wrong with being scared about whatever the hell was going down."

Kevin was a bit angry at himself for pulling his hand away. He didn't understand the conflict going through him right now between wanting to connect to someone as himself for once, being afraid of what was going on out there, and wanting to be protective of the one sturdy anchor he had in this situation. "There's nothing wrong with being afraid." Kevin stood up and crossed the room back to his own side and plopped on his bed facing away from Ed. "Nothing is scarier than something you know nothing about."

"I know nothing about a lot of stuff," Ed shrugged then went back to his cigarette in silence for a few moments longer. Then he stubbed it out, shoved the butt in his pocket, and wandered over beside Kevin's bed and plunked himself down on the floor. He yawned and tipped his head back against the side of his roommate's bed, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. He looked down at the smudge of darkness that made up his hand, flexing it a little then turning around and propping his chin on Kevin's bedsheet, his nose coming a few inches from the other's back. He stayed there for a few moments then stood and returned to his own bed, still fidgeting restlessly. Eventually, though, he spoke up, giving a quiet 'goodnight' then turning over and staring at the opposite wall. It was gonna take awhile to get used to not sleeping in his own bed.

Kevin returned the goodnight quietly and tried to fall asleep. The bed was new and clean but it wasn't his and his body knew it. He laid still and tried to just clear his mind and fall asleep. He almost succeeded but then a crack of heat lightening made him jerk back into an upright position. He shook it off and laid back down but his body was still quaking from the sudden boom. He began to try and breathe and shake it off but it wasn't easy, his body was still in flight or fight from the earlier scare. Kevin rolled over and faced Ed's bed.

He couldn't believe the snoring.

Ed was sprawled out on his back with his shirt rucked up about his stomach, completely oblivious; any deeper in sleep and he would have started drooling. He snored the snore of a comfortable man with a sinus infection in spite of the lack of both infection and comfort. Kevin seriously considered covering Ed's face with a pillow for a moment but he shook it off. He'd slept through it before, he could do it again. He decided to pick up some nasal strips for Ed ASAP, then pulled his pillow over his head and just relaxed. Eventually he was able to turn the horrid sound into white noise and fall asleep. 

In the morning Ed dragged himself out of bed like a zombie, staring around the dark room blearily then stripping down without really paying attention. He definitely wasn't used to having other people in his general vicinity without having at least a wall or floor between them and so when he tossed his clothes into the hamper and headed for the bathroom to give himself a cursory scrub-down, he walked with the whole of himself on display, from the impressive, lean musculature to the strange pallor and little scrubs of naturally vivid red hair. Likewise when he came out, all he had on was the towel over his head, scrubbing tiredly without watching where he was going.

Kevin got up out of bed with his eyes half shut and stared at the floor, very much out of it this morning. He walked without looking and collided something solid. He fell on his ass and looked up at what he'd hit. He felt his brain jerk wide awake and go into full gear. Kevin found himself staring wide-eyed at a fully nude Ed. His brain took in every single little detail from the towel on his head to his splayed feet on the floor. It took him almost a full minute to register any thought other than that of what was displayed before him. He leapt back up to his feet and felt a little dizzy.

"Oh man, I'm soooo sorry." Kevin carefully and quickly headed past Ed and into the bathroom catching a glimpse of Ed's ass before getting the door shut. He leaned against the door for a moment feeling a tightness in his groin. He frowned and shook his head trying to make the images go away. He striped quickly and turned the shower on cold before stepping in. He pressed his face to the wall of the shower and tried to let the water to wash away his shame.

Ed stood there for a few moments longer, his sleep-fugged mind not processing the fact that he'd just let himself be ogled. He yawned widely and trudged back to his half of the room, digging through his holy terror of a dresser in search of something that smelled at least halfway decent, which was something he was unlikely to find in his current state. In the end he found a pair of underwear, just slightly too tight and hugging the solid curve of his ass. He seemed to doze where he stood, swaying ever-so-slightly until, somewhere outside, the sound of an electronic rooster blasted across the lawn and nearly rattled the windows.

"UP AND AT 'EM, LADIES!" barked the voice of the man the new pledges knew only as 'Coach', driving the rest of the sleeping athletes from their beds with swears and grumbles and a lot of ire.

Kevin had just managed to calm down when the voice over the PA system made him almost slip in the shower. He grabbed the shower head and steadied himself. "Fucking, ugh..." Kevin grumpily walked out of the bathroom in his underwear and headed to his bag. He knew he's have to unpack sometime, but now wasn't the time. He pulled a fresh pair out and hurriedly switched out the old boxers for the new before pulling on black shorts and a green shirt. He tied his hair back before donning his hat. "I hate this guy already, its like freaking boot camp or something."

"Hate is a strong word," Ed yawned again as he pulled a white undershirt down over his head and a passable red tshirt over that, adjusting his shorts across his hips then running his hands through his hair and letting it fall in a mess, preferring to just let it dry that way for the time being. He glanced back at Kevin then started down to join the other guys on the front lawn.

Kevin followed after Ed. "You have to admit that wake up wasn't very cool Ed." They reached the lawn and joined the others in the group. He made sure to get towards the front of the group where he could be seen out of habit. The drive to be popular was still strong in him. He might not be as bulky as a lot of these guys but the recruiters had taken him for his skill and drive, not his size. He hoped if they were doing laps or something that they'd do it now before it got hotter.

Ed didn't answer, instead just standing with his usual slouch, looking around at the others then at the Coach, holding down another yawn then springing upright with a slight flail as the tall, bulky man stepped in front of him and blasted the whistle hanging around his neck.

"WAKE UP," he shouted and started pacing back and forth in front of them, picking on each and every one of them until they were all standing at attention, wide-eyed and alert. "Thaaat's BETTER! Now, all of you, I want fifty jumping jacks and that is just the START of your morning! Do them wrong, do them lazily, and you will do FIFTY MORE! AND GO!"

Ed hastened to obey, the instinct joined with that voice driving it into him that he had to listen, immediately, without failing.

Kevin was glad he'd already gotten shocked awake this morning as he began the jumping jacks. He focused on doing them properly and at a good pace, making sure to bark out the numbers clearly. He was glad he'd been the gym helper for so long in school. He at least knew what he was doing. He didn't dare look around at anyone else and kept his eyes forward and his face neutral. This was no worse than any other training he'd be through. His dad would have him do three times as many sometimes during the season.

Ed kept pace with the boy beside him, a large, tanned guy with a strange skull on his upper shoulder in the style of the Spanish classes' decorations for the Dio de los Muertos. He had lost count some time ago but he figured that by doing them in time with someone else, he could finish his jumping jacks easily enough and be able to go on to whatever they were to do next.

"NOW, FIFTY PUSH UPS!" Coach blew his whistle again.

Kevin was starting to hate this guy more and more as he immediately dropped down when he yelled fifty. He made sure to do real push ups, knowing this guy was going to be a perfectionist about form and execution in these exercises. He kept his breathing evenly and kept counting clearly.

Ed immediately flopped onto his stomach then went rigid, his back perfectly straight, his toes driving into the grass as he did what would probably be considered the most perfect pushups of any of them effortlessly. Once more he lost count though and ended up doing twenty more than either of the boys beside him, just starting to break a sweat as the sun began to peek up over the eastern quad's wall.

"YOU ALL COULD LEARN A THING OR TWO WATCHING THIS BOY," the coach barked, looking down the line of them all then hollering them back up onto their feet to have them run sprints, touching the ground after ten yards and coming back, repeating over and over.

Kevin made sure to keep it at exactly ten yards or a little over and to try and beat his heat every time while still not going for a full out run. He had a feeling they were going to go for a run across campus after these and he didn't want to burn out too quickly. He was glad he kept himself in training condition all summer. He was also glad they didn't have to do this after breakfast or they would have had a few puking people by now.

He wasn't mad that Ed had stood out, he knew he was going to. Kevin knew he just had to be in the top tier. No way was he going to be sitting on the bench during the whole first game, freshman or not. He wasn't sure what position they'd want him to play yet, but the recruiters had to have seen something they liked in him for him to be here.

While Kevin's progress was fast and neat, Ed's was slower but steady, as if he could have kept it up for an hour or more. He lagged just a little behind, but the bulk of his frame made it a bit surprising that he could move that fast at all. He touched down on the ground, his unusual twisting grace causing the guys to look back over their shoulders at him, at least one starting to stumble. Already they could see the Coach ticking off who he wanted to play what in his head and it both crushed some peoples' confidence and bolstered others'. Ed was given a long look, as was Kevin. It was clear they were among the top picks, but it was still early in the day, early in the year; they had all the time in the world in which to fuck up, and that was what Coach was counting on.

"Okay, up and follow me," he ordered, marching them off panting toward the track situated halfway across the campus from them with the intention of making them run laps until the cafeteria opened.

Kevin never even glanced at the Coach during the whole affair. To make eye contact would be a mistake. He knew focusing on the task at hand was much more important. Especially with a hard ass like this one, he was trying to drive them into the ground. He was just glad every morning wasn't going to be like this; after all they still had to keep their grades up to stay on the team.

Upon reaching the track Kevin was sure to get into a fast pace that he could maintain without declining too quickly. It was likely that he was seeing who he could run into the ground and who needed more conditioning. Luckily for Kevin this was a lot like the regimen that his Dad wanted him to maintain. 

He stuck to the outermost lane of the track and kept himself aware of the people around him in order to dodge the assholes who might try and mess him up. He sidestepped a couple of senior players that came up behind him and managed to leap over the one they tripped.

Ed, on the other hand, stuck right to the center of the track, either dodging around or jumping as a hurdle jumper might over fallen teammates, his body flattened against his forward leg and the other curled up under him. Several of the guys slowed down to look behind them and ended up shoved fairly effectively out of the way, the tall, determined Ed plowing through, over or around every obstacle. All the while his pace remained steady and once more, it seemed as if he could have kept this speed up for hours.

At least he had dropped the habit of letting his arms trail limp behind him as he ran.

Kevin couldn't help but notice how much better Ed had gotten as he went by. Nobody would have been able to tell he had ever smoked. He knew Ed was assured that he'd be playing as long as he didn't mess up between now and the first game. Kevin was glad he had worn his hat, as the sun made it hard to see during part of the run. He heard one of the other brothers curse about Ed's pace as he went by.

Time was passing and Kevin knew that soon they'd have to quit and head to breakfast. No way would the Coach risk his whole team falling out from dehydration. Kevin felt the guy beside him stick out a leg and catch his own Kevin immediately managed to touch his hand to the ground, allow himself to flip over and land back on his feet and begin to get back going. Kevin scowled; he'd had enough. He broke out into a full run and caught up with the bastard. When he got beside him he aimed and landed a well-placed kick to the center of the guys calf and kept right on going as he fell.

As the guy yelled out and collided with the ground the Coach blew his whistle, all the team turning around to face the mammoth man as he strode straight up to Kevin, getting about a foot away from him and berating him specifically for playing dirty. It was as if he hadn't seen the tricks and cheap shots the others had been pulling. Ed was still trucking along around the track, almost out of earshot then coming back around, finally slowing down at the clot of people crowding around to listen to Kevin getting his ass verbally handed to him.

Kevin kept his face staring straight at the Coach's, even when he spat in his face while yelling. Oh this was nothing compared to his Dad, who could yell at him over nothing. This time he knew he'd done something. He kept his stance neutral and his arms at his side and hands open. Of course he'd be the one to get caught, the dozen of other falls were perpetrated by favorites of his no doubt. Kevin tried hard not to crack a smile and start laughing about this. He might have screwed himself before touching the field. He saw Ed coming up out of the corner of his eye. He felt bad that he might not be there for Ed now, but enough was enough. He could have really hurt himself falling like that, while the guy he kicked would only be bruised for a week or so. He kept his breathing calm as the larger man's rage washed over him.

He was loathe to admit it, but the Coach was impressed by the fact that Kevin was facing him down without flinching or even showing a chink in his armor. It was obvious that he'd been trained to withstand being berated. He cooled down minutely and turned to the rest of the team, ordering them to do another lap before heading to the showers, then toward the cafeteria for breakfast. High in protein, he emphasized then set them off on their last lap. Ed hung back just enough to run in time with Kevin, watching him curiously for a few moments then keeping him company for the moment as they rounded the track.

Kevin didn't breathe a sigh of relief until they were well out of ear shot of the Coach. Many guys passed the pair and laughed and joked about the thrashing Kevin had just gotten and the likely prospect that he'd be towel manager or stuck in the mascot suit. Kevin knew better. The Coach would be watching him but he'd seen how well he could take verbal abuse. 

"Some morning, huh Ed? Got yelled at in front of the whole team already." Kevin didn't really care much, it had been worth it to make that upperclassman fall. The field house was in sight and Kevin felt like another shower was just what he needed to help him deal with this, though he knew trouble might be waiting for him inside. He clinched his fists for a moment as they headed that way.

"Better the Coach than Sarah," Ed said pointedly then laced his hands behind his head, stretching his arms and chest out as he walked. He yawned a bit, as if all of what they'd done as morning drills had been nothing more than a walk. He ran his tongue across his lips then grimaced at a squishing rumble from his stomach. Shower or breakfast...he could either let himself remain sweaty and increasingly uncomfortable throughout the day or go back, shower when Kevin was done, staying hungry for maybe another half hour. Decisions decisions...

"Yeah, your sister had a mouth on her. You take it first man. I can wait." Kevin sat down when they had made it back without incident. He chuckled a little at the noise Ed's stomach had made. Kevin knew he needed to eat but he had a different gnawing feeling in his stomach. He hoped the guy he tripped wasn't going to start some shit next time they met. "You did good out there, Ed. You showed them guys up real well. You're probably in for sure. I'm going to have to watch myself for a while. I think I got noticed in the wrong way." Kevin couldn't help but laugh nervously. He was just now beginning to realize he'd have had no idea what to do had he been kick off the team then and there.

"Just show 'em you can play better than them and they'll shut right up," Ed said, sounding a bit like Eddy for just a moment as he stripped his shirt off over his head, tossing it on the floor and grabbing his towel then heading for the bathroom. He stayed in for a little while, singing off-key to himself before coming back out with his towel around his waist and hooking a thumb over his shoulder to let Kevin know the shower was all his.

"Yeah, hopefully." Kevin couldn't help smirking a little. After Ed came out, Kevin took a towel and some fresh clothes in with him. "You can head on to get some food if you want, Ed." Kevin knew that if that guy was planning to jump him immediately, on the way to cafeteria or leaving the frat house was the soonest opportunity. He had to hope that the brother he had kicked wasn't anyone of too much importance to the frat or he'd have trouble soon enough.

Kevin washed thoroughly to get rid of all the sweat and dust he'd picked up as well as to relax himself. He exited the shower and ran a brush through his hair to get all the knots out before putting it back up and donning his hat again. He dried and dressed fully before exiting the bathroom. He hoped the rest of the day would be less exciting and more relaxed.

Thankfully, the walk for both of them to the cafeteria would be peaceful, or at least marginally so, as peaceful as a walk on a campus swarming with hungry students could be. Ed had seated himself separate from everyone else, as he had always been prone to do all through middle and high school. This time, though, it really was just him by himself, given the lack of other Eds.

"Hey, new guy," a voice said in his ear just before he could shovel a biscuit swimming in sausage gravy into his mouth, "looks like you've got us beat."

"I'm sorry," Ed replied offhand, looking around with his fork still in his hand. He stuck it in his mouth as he turned around to face a guy bigger than he was, looking up cluelessly into the grey-green eyes of one of the frat members that had done most of the tripping of pledges on the track.

Kevin spotted where Ed had seated himself. He'd been popular in middle and high school but had still always seemed apart and aloof to the others in a way. He preferred smaller, more intimate groups where everyone really could like all the other members of a group, as much as people can like each other with differences anyway. He liked the other kids well enough but had preferred just the company of Nazz and Rolf. All the others had gotten on his nerve sometimes. He'd managed to get along well enough with Edd, not that that was very hard. Ed he had been pretty neutral about and Eddy and him, well, even he could see how alike they were in the chase for popularity.

He walked up just as Ed had apologized. Took the seat beside Ed and turned to face the brother as well. He was one of the ones Kevin had dodged a few times on the track. "He's giving you a compliment, Ed." Kevin wasn't going to start anything with the guy by mentioning the actions on the track. He turned to his plate and took a bite of his eggs. At least the food seemed to be good, better than the high school's at any rate.

"Oh...thanks," Ed amended, smiling with a smear of gravy around his mouth, drawing slightly grossed-out looks from the other guys, who chose to walk away with the tank of a boy in the lead, throwing glances back over their shoulders at the pair sitting together at the breakfast table. If they couldn't intimidate the new pair of pledges, maybe they could start some juicy little rumors...

Ed just went back to his breakfast. "Tha' waf nife of 'em t' fay tha'," he muttered after a bit, still under the impression he'd genuinely been complimented, in spite of the strange tone the biggest guy had used.

Kevin considered for a moment dropping it and letting Ed believe he'd been nice, but he got a bad feeling they weren't out of the woods yet. "He wasn't being nice, Ed, he was trying to scare you. Believe me." Kevin started putting his bacon on his toast. "They aren't happy that they couldn't get to you on the track. Most of those guys were the ones making trouble." Kevin continued to eat slowly. He had a sinking feeling the day was only going to get worse...and the year, for that matter. 

"This is worse than high school, man. At least there the jocks stuck together and didn't give each other much crap, here it's..." Kevin shook his head and continued eating. He was trying to figure out what their next move might be, but he couldn't decide which road they'd go down. He didn't know these guys well enough and it was starting to make him restless.

"Competitive," Ed finished for him, though somewhere in his comic-and-movie-rotted brain, he knew it was more than that, and a lot more dangerous. His face fell slowly as it sank in what Kevin meant by what he'd said about the guys and he gave a sad sigh. "I don't know if I wanna stay here too long," he said quietly, his fork sinking into what was left of his breakfast.

"I know what you mean." Kevin finished his food. "I doubt everyone here is an ass though, you'll make some more friends, Ed." He patted him on the shoulder briefly. "Besides, what's leaving going to prove to them?" Kevin scowled and looked at his plate. "I heard there was a club devoted to monster movies on campus, I'm sure you could make some friends there." 

_Me on the other hand..._ Kevin thought and frowned. He really wasn't sure where to go about making new friends. He would usually start with the jocks and then after cementing himself as popular go on from there. Not the best way to go about making new friends but he had been lucky in Peach Creek. He wondered what the skateboard policy was and whether there might be a group. He doubted it though, with no park for miles and he could bet there were 'no skateboarding' signs on campus. In fact, he thought he remembered seeing one.

"You'll be fine, Ed. You'll make some friends and even if you don't I won't leave you for those jerks." He didn't know why he'd said it, but he felt like he had to.

"But if I have a club and the other jocks don't want you then what're you gonna do?" Ed asked, looking back around at Kevin with a deep frown, his brow furrowed slightly and making it look like a frightened caterpillar rested across his forehead.

Kevin stared at Ed in silence for a moment. He hadn't realized until now just how easily Ed caught on to things sometimes. He could feel how blank his expression was he was so surprised. He bit back the lie he considered telling, he felt bad to even consider doing so now. He bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck. Then he returned the frown. "I really don't know what I'm going to do. A school this big is just really... different."

Kevin found himself looking at Ed's unibrow. It made his expression kind of...dare he think it? _Cute_. He tried to answer honestly now. "I'll find something, there has to be a club for something I'm interested in or maybe I'll meet people in a class or something." Kevin tried to smile but found it hard to. "I'll figure it out somehow, Ed. Thanks for thinking about me, man."

Ed nodded after a few moments, his mood lifting slightly. Of course Kevin would make friends. He always managed to; he was the most popular guy in Peach Creek, after all. He clapped Kevin's shoulder roughly, nearly sending him into his plate of eggs then returning to his own breakfast with renewed gusto. "Everything will be alright," he said when the final bite was swallowed and he stood, heading for the garbage.

"Yeah, everything will be just fine." Kevin managed to smile after sitting back up, glad he had good enough reflexes to stop himself from going into his plate. He stood and walked with Ed to the trash. Then he heard snickering from the direction of the jocks and he raised an eyebrow but didn't turn towards the sound, they hadn't spoken loud enough to be overheard and he didn't think they said anything that they'd understand. _What's so funny, assholes,_ Kevin thought as he placed his plate on the conveyor belt. Ed was following his plate, walking along the side of the conveyor belt at eye-level with his dish until he collided with the wall and just watched his plate disappear through its slot. He looked back around to see people staring at him, but it wasn't anything new so he was used to it. The laughing wasn't exactly new either and so, he never even noticed as he hovered by Kevin's side, trying to stay still and failing miserably.

Kevin felt very self conscious with all the people staring at him and Ed. It wasn't the entire cafeteria was but it was enough of them. He also had the feeling that Ed's antics weren't the cause. He put on a small scowl and tried to catch the eye of anyone making a nonverbal joke. He heard them laugh a bit more and Kevin felt like he was sinking into something unpleasant. He grabbed Ed's wrist and lead him out the door and towards a nearby building that housed the campus mailboxes. He leaned against a wall, trying to figure out why he felt like the world was suddenly laughing at a joke he was missing... and just what the joke was in the first place. He decided he needed to shake it off and reassure Ed.

"I needed to check my mail, man, see if I got anything; the final schedules should be in there anyway." He pulled his keys out of his pocket and looked for his box.

Ed stumbled as he was dragged outside, straightening up then leaning against the wall beside Kevin, watching as he searched for his mailbox then fumbled his key into the slot. He was used to being outside the loop; indeed, he was barely even aware of a loop that he was outside of. The fact never really bothered him either.

He just wished he knew what everyone was laughing at, since he finally got the feeling that it wasn't him.

"That means that you'll be in different classes than me," he said after a little bit, as if the dim little bulb in his head had finally flickered on. "Especially since neither of us have our majors."

"Depends on what you listed as your choices for electives and which General Education, you know the stuff everyone has to take, you got shuffled into. We could have some classes together or none. It doesn't matter though Ed, we're still roommates and we can have meals together when our schedules don't conflict." Kevin had to stop himself for a moment. What the hell was he doing? Since when did he start to want to play his day around hanging out with Ed? He might have been the only friend he had here but that didn't mean he had to go trying to schedule spending every moment they had together... The image of Ed's toned naked body entered Kevin's head suddenly and he had to shake it off.

"First semester or two is always gen ed until you figure out what you're going for, it gives you some time to catch your breath." Kevin pulled the sheet out of his box and began to look it over. It had stuff like math, history, and English lit. It also had a weightlifting hour every week and a few other electives he'd chosen from the pool of ones that counted with any major like a computer one and an arts class about the value of movies. 

"Ed, did you hear anyone say anything in there? I can't figure out why they were laughing. It seemed to be about us but I just can't think of why they would be laughing about us hanging out." Kevin could feel a weight in his gut telling him he knew, but his brain refused to add the numbers and send him into shock for probably the fifth or sixth time in two days.

Ed shrugged a little, just letting it roll off his back as he did just about everything else. He looked down from Kevin's mailbox to find his own, reaching out when Kevin had moved back and taking out his own schedule, shredding the envelope completely and leaving it in little confetti bits on the sidewalk. He looked down the list of his classes. The Gen Ed classes were just that: General. He shared a math class with Kevin, and Weight Lifting. He wasn't even sure when he had signed up for Culinary, or for Drumline, but he didn't particularly feel like complaining.

"When we start Coach's practices we won't really have much time to hang out," Ed mentioned as they started the walk back to their room.

"Well, if nothing else we live together. We can see each other then. And we'll be at practice together, as long as I keep my act together." Kevin laughed a little nervously. He patted Ed on the shoulder. "Think of it this way, it will force us to make new friends just to fill in the time. Not that I won't miss spending time with you." Kevin wasn't sure why he felt like he needed to add that. "I mean, well I think hanging with you has been nice, even though you're a dork and all." Kevin looked at his feet. "I don't know Ed, I've just felt really comfortable around you. I have to admit, being without you is going to be...weird."

"Lonely," Ed added as an afterthought then looked at Kevin, fidgeting awkwardly in place then stuffing his schedule into his back pocket and turning back toward the frat. They had their first class tomorrow morning, and he was still trying to figure out the order of his room and getting used to using the stairs to come down from it instead of come up. "Maybe one of these days we can go out somewhere and hang there on a weekend so we're not always on campus," he said, pausing as he watched a group pass, several of whom gave them peculiar looks then turned away, sniggering.

Kevin raised an eyebrow at the group and tried to hear any words, but it was just snickering. "I wish I knew what was so damn funny," he muttered quietly. After they had passed and were out of earshot he turned back to Ed. "Sounds like a plan, Dad got me a used car to use around here. Nothing special but it isn't falling apart either. I think I'd like that, not being stuck here all the time. I still need to unpack. I think part of me still can't believe I'm doing this." 

He followed slightly behind Ed as they headed back to the frat house. He hoped with classes tomorrow that they had nothing to fear from hazing tonight. He really hoped they'd save it for a weekend he decided to escape or maybe just maybe the noise they'd hurt hadn't been hazing at all. The night before seemed years away now. He wondered if they were laughing at him, Ed, or both of them. He'd gotten chewed out and Ed had been, well, Ed. He hoped he'd find out soon as they entered the frat house.

Ed immediately beelined for his bed, stripping out of his shirt and flopping onto his messed blanket with a comic in hand, intending to read until he fell asleep. With no 'Ed niche' to fit into as far as he knew, it was just him and Kevin, the two kids from the cul de sac that nobody else knew in the town nobody had really heard of. It was rather depressing. Of course, as time went on it would get better; of that, Ed was sure. But in the immediate future, he didn't really know what to do with himself.

So what does a workhorse do when he's not working? He eats.

The same was apparently true for work-Eds too, as Ed soon disappeared back downstairs, wandering across the lawns to find somewhere that might potentially have a snack for him.

Kevin finally unpacked all his clothes and items and arranged them in a way he liked. He kept finding himself distracted by Ed's bare chest and berated himself for it. He had no idea how to stop himself from thinking these weird-ass thoughts but they had started after he and Nazz had gotten serious and he had wondered why he didn't feel as physically attracted to her as he should. A few image searches on the internet later and he knew something was very wrong with him. So he just tried to hide it and fight the urge to act on any of those weird inclinations. And hoped like hell that he would grow out of it or something. He looked up after he finished with his clothes and saw that Ed had slipped out. He worried for a moment, but realized he couldn't shadow Ed forever.

Kevin saw Ed had left the door open and decided just to lay on his bed and do a little web surfing. He connected to the campus wifi and starting look at their season schedule. He made sure to watch the doorway over the top of his laptop and to only leave the door cracked.

Ed returned an hour later, his arms laden down with a lot of random snacks, even a couple of jaw-breakers. Normally he wouldn't even consider sharing; he would even fight the other Eds for a Jawbreaker, but he felt inclined to share with Kevin and so when he returned to the room, he spilled most of the snacks onto his bed, a bag of chips open and spilling greasy potato across the blanket, and tossed a few things onto Kevin's bed at his feet, then hopped over to his side and peeking at what he was doing online.

"Whatcha got there?"

Kevin was glad Ed had shut the door upon his return but wasn't happy when he bounded over suddenly after throwing snacks at him. He didn't have time to close his browser nor remove one of his hands from under his laptop where it had been cupped around him through his boxers.

"Geez, man!" he jumped a little and shut his laptop, but not before Ed could see the screen. Kevin had been watching a video of a rather attractive young man teasing his ever-hardening cock and had almost made it to the climax when Ed had arrived. He could feel heat spread over his face which pissed him off. Real men don't blush after all. "What the hell did you think you were doing!?!" he found himself yelling. He threw the offered food at Ed. "I thought I told you to stay on your own damn side!" He started pushing Ed back to his side of the room and was slowly making progress. 

"What'd you see, man? And don't bullshit me about it." His voice was low now. He found himself shaking a little and sweating. He didn't know what was worse: getting caught by Ed or the fact that getting caught had made his erection worse for whatever reason. He was fuming and he felt like slugging the big dolt. He wondered how much Ed knew and how much he could guess.

"You were watching a video of a guy-" Ed cut off as he turned around suddenly, watching Kevin loose his hold and fall facefirst on the floor on his side of the room. Immediately Ed picked him up and started trying to dust him off. "Sorry Kevin..." he stopped as he looked down at the tent in the loose shorts Kevin wore, his hand just barely grazing over the slightly twitching muscle beneath. He looked back up at Kevin and held his hands up on either side of him, his own face turning a funny shade of pink. He fidgeted a little in place without quite meeting Kevin's eyes. "I can go away if you like so you can um...finish..."

Kevin felt weird; his head was spinning and he didn't know if he was going to start yelling again or pass out. Ed touching him had not helped matters in his shorts and he attempted the shove Ed roughly backwards when he offered to leave but ended up on his ass. "You didn't see anything." He said in an even but threatening tone, looking up at the taller boy. "I wasn't doing anything and this never happened. Got it, dork?" Kevin was shaking badly now; even Eddy's Brother hadn't scared him this badly. "You just leave me the fuck alone, and don't you dare follow after me." Kevin got to his feet and grabbed a pair of pants out of his drawer, his keys and wallet, and his shoes off the floor. He thanked no one in particular for his laptop being locked when closed as he rushed out the door, making sure not to slam it. He put his pants on at the top of the stairs, grateful no one was out of their room on his floor.

After dressing he crept down and quietly left out the front door, the brothers distracted with the big screen in the living room. Kevin walked carefully and eventually made it to the lot where he'd parked his car. It was dark green and had a few dents and scratches but he'd got it running pretty well. He unlocked the door and got into the driver's seat. He shut it and locked it and put the seat back. Kevin was surprised he was still aroused through all that, but then again he didn't really understand why he was turned on by guys in the first place. He put the sun cover in the windshield to insure no one would see him and undid his pants. He pulled his weeping cock out of his boxers and began to run his hand from shaft to tip with his left hand, pulling some napkins out of the center console with his right. It wasn't long before he'd had to shift his fistful of napkins to his crotch and he laid back, riding the waves of pleasure coursing from the top of his body to the bottom.

He sat there panting a little after finishing and dropped the mess into the trash bag he kept in his car. He sat up and pressed his hands to his face. "What the hell am I going to do now...?" He'd been fine living with Ed before, but now... No, he couldn't change roommates, the guy might tell someone. Tell someone... how in the world would he be able to keep that from happening? He put his head between his knees and yelled, no word in particular, just a frustrated cry for help.

He felt a little better afterward, but not much. He knew he'd have to go back sometime. He redid his pants and got out of his car then began a slow walk back to the frat house. Every time he thought of Ed he grew more pissed. He hated him. He hated his stupid face and his dumb looks and his damn hot body... Kevin growled and slapped the side of his head a few times. He was going to go insane, he just knew it. Wait. That would explain these feelings and desires: maybe he'd already lost it... 

The frat house was soon in sight and he dreaded reentering. He didn't know what to do next.


	2. Running From One Problem Into Another

Ed had stayed where he was for a full minute after Kevin had shoved him away, blinking as he stared toward the door then mentally picking himself up slowly. He didn't understand what had just happened; A few hours ago Kevin had been fine staying close to him and talking and hanging out but now? He hadn't even tried to open the computer after Kevin had slammed it shut, knowing he had to respect his roommate's privacy after he'd stormed out.

It felt like the bottom had fallen out of his entire plan, such as it was, for the year, now that he had nobody to stand by. It intensified the lonely feeling he got whenever he considered the fact that he no longer had any other Eds around. He missed Double D most and he never considered the fact that he might like either of his friends as anything more than just that, as friends, but Double D had made him feel...warm, useful. Like someone cared about him.

Kevin had made him feel a little like that with his encouraging words but now, he didn't have that either. Pulling a cigarette from one of the pockets of his sweater, Ed sat on the floor beside the window and lit the rather abused-looking thing and took a long draw, his eyes falling closed.

Kevin stepped back into the room and without a word laid down on his bed and facing away from Ed. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and kicked off his shoes. There was a strange hollow feeling in his gut but ignored it. The silence was heavy on the room as Kevin shut his eyes and tried to will himself to sleep. It was going to be a long year. He just hoped he could figure out what he needed to do to stop having these feelings. Instead of sorting them out he just let them stew in his mind and the thoughts racing only managed to piss him off. He thought about lashing out at Ed over his smoking in the room but decided against that. It would mean speaking to his roommate and he couldn't trust himself to do what he needed to do tonight. He had to cut Ed loose and get him to forget what he saw but right now that seemed impossible.

Ed chose to leave as night fell, finding a way up to the roof to sit out of sight with his cigarette between his lips and his eyes closed, head down against his knees as his arms hung limp beside him. The longer he thought, the lonelier he became until soon he just wanted to stay up there on the roof with his cigarettes.

Kevin laid on his bed in the dark still wide awake. He pressed a hand to his face and tried to settle his thoughts; he was mentally exhausted but still couldn't sleep. He sat up and threw his hat into his corner of the room. He leapt up and began to pace, full of nervous energy, then went into the bathroom and took a shower then dried off and changed into a white wife beater and a fresh pair of boxers. He laid in bed for another hour before he sat up again and grabbed his laptop.

After turning it back on he began to look at pictures of naked women. He went over image after image, trying to get the reaction he had been having to the video from earlier. It just wasn't the same. He couldn't make his body have the same strong reaction. He could see what he thought was a good-looking woman but it didn't give him the same kind of thrill. He could only trick his mind by imagining things, just like he had with Nazz when he was younger. Just going through the motions. 

He shut it off in frustration and laid back down, eventually falling asleep.

Ed, on the other hand, stayed awake that night, unable to make himself fall asleep, or even just go back to his room. He somehow managed to stay out of sight of the campus security force as he wandered, his head down, hands in his pockets, extinguished cigarette tucked behind his ear.

He ended up on the edge of campus, sitting by himself on an old bench, scratching at the wood with the end of a screw picked from one of his pockets without particularly caring that his first thought was Double D's voice yelling in the back of his head about vandalism.

When Kevin woke up he found that Ed was not there. He frowned but then the memories of last night flooded back in and he felt his paranoia begin to get the best of him. He showered and dressed for class and headed downstairs. The guys in the frat house didn't seem to act any different from the night before as he headed out and towards the cafeteria. He kept his guard up as he entered and looked around. He didn't see Ed but that meant nothing in a cafeteria of this size. He got his food and sat at a table alone, wondering if this could get any worse...short of people actually finding out, anyway. He sat eating and brooding and heard a little giggling from a nearby table of girls. He made sure to catch the eye of the one talking the most and shoot her a grin. She returned it and the table chattered even more. He hated doing that crap now but if he couldn't trust Ed with the secret he was going to have to start working on his rep.

The girls continued to chatter, occasionally glancing back over their shoulders at him then laughing a little more, the girl he'd smiled at blushing a little until finally she stood and approached his table carrying her tray.

"Hi," she chirped as she seated herself beside him, picking up an orange and starting to pull the pieces apart, watching him then smiling to herself and looking back at her plate with a light, very cute little blush.

"I'm Kevin. What's your name, beautiful?" He smiled at her and tipped his hat back a little. 

As much as he hated the idea of possibly leading on a girl he decided that maybe, just maybe he could get rid of this weird urges to look at guys by hooking up with a hot chick. She was another blonde but she wasn't a cheerleader and she seemed to be another freshmen. He didn't see any sorority symbols on her clothes.

He found out that her name was Tina and he was right, she was freshman. She wasn't a cheerleader but she was on the girl's soccer team. They chatted a bit about their sports and he walked her to first class's building before heading to his own class.

Ed was still nowhere to be seen in the cafeteria, or outside of it for that matter. After Kevin had left, he'd retreated, sorely tempted to stay in that day instead of attending his classes, but once again Double D's voice in the back of his mind forced him out of bed, dressed in his usual attire of striped shirt, baggy jeans and green sweater and onward toward his first class, a course in American literature. He stayed in the back of his class, near the top of the risers where it was almost impossible to hear the professor and, in turn, it was impossible for the professor to hear the students. He had his head down, dozing off, just barely starting to snore until in his side an elbow was jabbed, making him sit upright to glare sourly into the face of the guy beside him, a stringy young man with sallow skin that looked a good deal like him, but with curly blonde hair and maybe four inches shorter.

"Yo dude, you need a pick-me-up?"

Ed just looked at him for a moment, then put his head back down on the desk with his arm under it. He blinked when what looked like a hand-rolled cigarette was held in front of his face. He reached for it, when it was pulled out of his reach. "Ah-ah, gotta pay a little some'n first."

Of course, he didn't know what it was, thinking only that it was a cigarette and right now, he could really use a smoke.

Kevin made sure to sit with the other jocks in his first class and shoot glances at some of the girls, not the same welcoming glance he did with Tina, but more of a look at me all aloof and cool "don't you want to know me?" look. He knew he had a good chance of starting something with her and he could play it slow enough to where he didn't seem to be trying to get in bed with her. He could treat her as a close friend and act like he didn't want to rush her. If nothing else he'd have a friend even if she couldn't "cure" him. Kevin left that history class and headed to the math course next knowing full well that Ed was supposed to be there. He took a seat near the middle of the room where he was in plain sight of everyone there but not close enough to the front to be labeled a nerd.

Ed walked alongside his newfound 'friend' instead of trying to catch up with Kevin, rather delighted to find that the guy (Dee, he'd said to call him), had nearly the same schedule as he did, sans weight training and drumline (he still wanted to figure out how to switch out of that, given he knew he had no rhythm to speak of) but, instead of showing up at the math class as he should have, he followed Dee outside to a secluded place with the intention of sharing the home-rolled with him.

The blonde lit up first, taking a quick puff then coughing and choking a little then handing over the blunt to Ed, who took a slightly longer drag and nearly coughed himself onto his ass.

"Dee, that's not a very good cigarette," he coughed then watched as the blonde took another hit and relaxed, a lazy smile coming across his face.

"'s not a cigarette, man..." When Ed gave him a peculiar look, he just passed the thing back over and let him take another tentative drag. Ed soon leaned back on the wall with a smile of his own, his eyes half-lidded. He felt...floaty. It didn't matter as much what Kevin had said. He couldn't even hear Double D's voice in his head anymore. He could get used to this.

As angry as Kevin was with Ed, he still wondered where the hell he was and took an extra syllabus for him being his roommate and teammate and all. He walked to the cafeteria for lunch having his other classes for today a couple of hours after math. As he stood in line, Tina entered the building and he let her cut in front of him. She blushed a little and giggled about him being such a gentleman for a frat boy and a jock. He waved it off as a common courtesy and said that he didn't abide any stereotypes.

She wasn't like Nazz; this girl balanced her athletic prowess with a little thirst for academics. He could tell she wasn't a geek but he liked that she had a mind to her. He was making sure not to drop a boyfriend line or the steady angle. Right now they could just be friends.

He wondered though where the hell Ed had gotten to and felt a little guilty that he hadn't gone looking for him yet. He wondered if he'd just packed up and gone home. Oh Double Dweeb would be sending him an angry letter if that happened and he found out why. _Found out why..._ Kevin got a bad feeling again. What if the dork told the other dorks? Tina asked what was wrong and Kevin shook it off as him being a little nervous about his first real practice. She had to agree about that and told him he was cute.

Ed and Dee were gone through lunch as well, hiding out behind that building, getting baked (Ed had asked what that meant and Dee had just laughed as he rolled another joint, saying it meant they were just about done and that they'd be floating for a good while.) It wasn't until halfway through his Government class that Ed appeared, sneaking in with a wide, absent smile not unlike that he wore when he was younger and had gotten knocked around the head. He settled into his seat and let his chin fall against his chest, intending to sleep for a little while longer then go on to Weight Training. He got there right as Kevin was letting Tina go to her next class, his brow perking up slightly as he nudged his roommate with his elbow.

"You already found yourself a friend, huh? Lucky duck." His breath smelled strangely fruity on top of a more pungent scent.

"What the hell have you been up to?" Kevin wrinkled his nose, not recognizing the smell. He was glad Tina was already gone but not happy that Ed was acting weird in a class that most likely contained several of their teammates and fellow brothers. "What's that smell? Nevermind, here, damn..." He pressed a couple of breath mints into Ed's hands before heading over to a weights station. Kevin didn't know what Ed had been up to but he was acting really strange. He had almost forgotten for a moment that he was still worried Ed was gonna squeal and that he'd begun to hate him again. He saw Ed had remained in place and he walked over and gave him a light slap on the back of the head after making sure the teacher wasn't there yet and no one was watching. Ed didn't seem to feel it though and Kevin pushed him over to a bench press station.

Slowly Ed blinked then lifted a hand to the back of his head, running his fingers through the haphazard red locks back there then grinning and heading toward the bench press as he crunched the breathmints, immediately laying down after stripping off his jacket. He stayed there for a long moment just looking up at the bar, then sat up and very narrowly avoided smacking his forehead on it as he remembered he had to put weights on either side.

The rest of the guys around the room started staring as he picked up a couple of 45-lb weights and put them on either side of the bar, then followed with increasingly smaller weights until it looked like he had twin cones on either side of the bar, at a total of damn near 350 lb. He laid back down after dusting off his hands and looked up at Kevin, brow raised once more then dipping his fingers into a chalky dust to prevent sweat making his grip slippery. He dusted his hands together, then gripped the bar overhead and lifted it just a little too easily to be human.

Kevin was a bit worried about suddenly having to spot Ed with this much weight. He counted off for him and stood at the ready but he gave a couple of other guys a look that made them come in a bit closer to help. Kevin was glad that he guessed right and they were fellow pledges and his attitude had been enough to make them think he was important enough to listen to. He took the proper stance with his knee slightly bent and began to not only count with Ed but to bark out motivation to keep going and find a suitable limit. He kept counting off for Ed and was very happy that he showed no sign of dropping the load. He help put it back up on the bench since that was what he was supposed to do, but really Ed still lifted the whole weight. 

"Think you want more?" Kevin asked in his gym assistant tone. Kevin wondered what was up with Ed, he was acting very strange.

Ed simply stared upward vacantly then reached up, apparently trying to catch something that, to everyone else in the room, wasn't there. He opened his hand and stared at it for a moment, then pouted a bit as he saw nothing but skin. He sighed and sat up, smacking his forehead on the bar and making several guys groan, others snickering at him. He rubbed the spot and tried again to sit up, this time just barely grazing the bar then looking around at Kevin with a strange expression. His eyes were glazed over and things seemed to be happening in his mind that by all rights shouldn't have been. "No thanks, I think I want to go lay down now." He stood, then slowly sank to the ground. Everyone stared, afraid to move, until suddenly he snored out loud, nearly rattling the mirrored walls.

The guys all laughed at Ed and Kevin was suddenly glad that the Coach or whoever was teaching this was just sitting in his office. He could hear him yelling at the TV there.

"Lumpy here's always been like this, guys. If he pulls off something real big on a day he's already taxed, he can get tired and drop off. I'm not surprised since his classes had to already wear the dude out. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer."

The other guys seemed to laugh this off and then began to spread back out to their stations. Kevin went over and began working on the barbells, keeping Ed in sight. The Weights Coach peeked out once and counted heads and seemed to think from Ed's position that he was only stretching his calves or something. He barked out an order to keep working out and spotting for each other and went back in his office. Kevin was glad this class wasn't run by the football coach. They finished the period, Kevin's last class for today, and he managed to pull the taller boy into a fireman's carry. He was glad he could get him out because it looked like Ed wouldn't wake up anytime soon. 

Ed's cheek pressed against Kevin's shoulder as a small puddle of drool formed on his shirt, the big guy totally out and once more snoring as his head drooped. People stopped to watch Kevin walk as he carried Ed back toward the dorm, given that weight training was the last class he'd been scheduled for that day as well. It was just as well, since throughout the rest of the day, Ed slept immobile in the heap Kevin had left him in when he dropped Ed back on his bed.

After setting Ed on his bed to sleep, Kevin placed the extra math syllabus on his dresser. He looked over the ones he'd picked up to today and made a note of whether he needed to pick anything else up from the bookstore. Satisfied that the list had not changed he showered and dressed in a fresh set of clothes. He checked his cell when it vibrated in his pocket and saw Tina wanted to meet for dinner. Kevin texted her back that he'd love to treat her to the pizza place next to the bookstore. He ran a comb through his hair and left his hat behind on his bed before heading out.

The evening air was much cooler than the day had been. He sniffed his own collar making sure he hadn't applied too much cologne; just because they weren't dating yet didn't mean he couldn't make himself look nice for their not-date dinner. He was slightly concerned about Ed, but he pushed that out of his mind for now. He could worry about the lump when he got back.

Tina was smiling throughout the dinner date and once more, the conversation lapsed into talk about sports, though it slowly got more personal, eventually ending up in a discussion of the fraternity, and specifically about Kevin's roommate.

"It's just that, well...you guys are really close. At least that's what it looks like. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that or anything but I just...well, you know how rumors fly around and I wanted to ask if...if it was true...?"

Kevin had been drinking some of his soda and choked, almost sending it through his nose. He coughed a bit and managed to finally clear his throat. "Rumors? Close? Ah, no, well, you see..." Kevin took another drink and took a deep breath. "We grew up together in a very small town. I knew every kid in my neighborhood really well and, you know, I didn't know anyone here yet. He didn't either so we just kind of hung out a little to try and get used to the campus and the change and all." Kevin was glad he'd been able to keep the color from creeping up in his face. "It's nothing like that, Tina. He isn't even my best friend or anything. He's kind of slow and all so I just wanted to try and make sure he got off on the right foot before cutting him loose. He's a bit too much, really."

He leaned back a little and smiled at her. "I'd rather be having dinner with you anyway. Why else would I be here?"

She couldn't help but giggle, turning that cute shade of pink as she took a sip from her own soda then looked back up, nodding in understanding. "That's good. You're a really nice guy, Kevin...Looking out for him like that and all." She relaxed more and once again they started to talk until finally her cell phone's alarm went off, warning her that she had to go back and finish her homework. "I tend to forget," she explained, standing and waiting for Kevin to follow suit before heading toward the door.

"I had fun," she said quietly, looking down with a shy smile and tucking her hair back behind her ear out of her face.

"Oh, that's fine." He smiled at her. "It's been cool. Let me walk you back." He walked her to the path to her dorm and they parted ways. Kevin was not going to push for a kiss at the door, or even taking her to the door in the first place. He walked slowly back to the frat house enjoying the quiet grounds and the night air. He though about taking another swim but decided he wasn't in the mood. It was time to go check on Ed.

Ed, who as soon as he had woken up had eaten everything he'd brought back hours before and was slowly working on his jawbreaker as he read his comics, apparently feeling a good deal better than he had been, but now with energy to burn. It didn't look like he would be sleeping that night.

When Kevin reappeared in the door, Ed nearly bounced up and over to him, but froze when he remembered what had happened the last time he'd done so. He shrank back down onto his bed, rubbing a hand across his bare chest; after he'd woken up and eaten, he'd showered and now sat in nothing but a pair of gymshorts on top of his disaster of a bed.

Kevin walked in and watched Ed jump back. He frowned for a moment and then scowled and headed over to his bed. He striped down to his boxers and laid down on his back staring at the ceiling. Seeing Ed in any form of undress kept making his stomach feel funny. It wasn't unpleasant but Kevin didn't want to feel it. He wasn't happy to know that the rumor was what he was worried about all along. He doubted Ed said anything since it had started in the cafeteria. He was going to have to limit his contact with the big guy as much as possible. Now wasn't the time though.

"Why didn't you show up to math class, dork? The brothers aren't going to be happy if you don't keep your grades up." Kevin kept his eyes to the ceiling and smoothed back his hair. He made a mental note to cut his bangs soon. He'd be tucking the rest under a helmet if things went right. He couldn't put a name to the weird hollow feeling he was getting, nothing was wrong. Ed probably just forgot or something.

Ed blinked, looking up at the ceiling with his tongue out for just a moment before looking back at Kevin, shrugging slightly. "Went for a smoke with a friend and lost track of time," he explained simply then stretched out on his side with his head on his hand, acting just a little too nonchalant. "What about you? Have fun with your new friend?" he asked after a moment, remembering the pretty little blonde he'd seen with Kevin before weights training before.

Kevin glanced at Ed for a moment with a raised eyebrow before just shrugging it off. Ed just forgot the time. It wasn't that big of a surprise. Nothing big right now. Exams and crap mattered a lot more than attendance anyway. "She's cool, going to play soccer here. We talk about sports and stuff." Kevin knew he had to at least keep the communication lines open, just in case Ed got the urge to squeal. 

"I've had a long day and I'm gonna hit the sack. I don't care that you two are hanging out and smoking but try to go to class, man." Kevin felt alright now, he was managing to get thorough a conversation without getting pissed at himself or Ed. Maybe he'd forgotten what he saw and they could go back to being friends, but now wasn't the time to test the waters for that.

Then Ed just had to say it; it had been bothering him for a little while now, and in some part of his mind he knew he really should have dropped it, but when he spoke up it was a little too late.

"You know...if you like guys I don't care. I mean, I was ok with Eddy and Double D. Just...well, you don't hafta hide it around me." He offered Kevin a crooked smile then went back to his comic in peace.

Kevin could feel himself starting to sweat, his eyes wide; he knew he was probably as pale as a sheet now. "I..I don't know what you're talking about, man. Heheh..." He was so shocked that he almost didn't register the bit about the other Eds. He tried to steady himself and shift the subject to them and get it off of himself.

"So, the two other Dorks are dating, huh? I'm not too surprised. They always seemed like an old married couple." Kevin wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Yeah, they go good together," Ed nodded, turning over onto his back and looking up at the ceiling as he continued, "I was kinda disappointed though. I thought that since Double D was nice and tolerant and all with me that he might like me." Ed trailed off a bit, then heaved a quiet sigh. "But they're happy with eachother and that's what matters, right? And it made the Kankers leave them alone too." Ed's smile was small and rather sad as he looked toward the window, then over at his roommate's bed. He could tell that Kevin wanted to stop talking about all of this and go to sleep, and he himself was restless and more than anything he just wanted to forget what was making him sad.

"I'll go for a little while," he said over his shoulder as he stood and pulled on a shirt over his gym shorts, tucking something into his pocket then heading for the door. "You get some sleep."

Kevin's eyes widened and he swallowed hard when Ed spoke about Double Dee that way. He felt he needed to say something to stop Ed from leaving. But he couldn't. He just couldn't seem to make his mouth move or form any words, or even turn around. He was a coward and he knew it. All he managed to do was lift his arm and give a weak wave. He heard and the door shut and he pulled his arm down and pressed his hand to his face. He felt hollow inside. He just couldn't admit his feelings to another guy. It wasn't right. It wasn't natural. It wasn't safe.

He couldn't do it even though Ed had outright admitted that he liked guys, or at least Double D. Kevin had to admit that he'd checked the slender dork out a few times himself, but in the end he'd found that he preferred guys with more bulk, guys like Ed...

He sat up and hugged his knees and began to rock. His mind ran through all the reasons not to tell Ed, and his heart, gut, and nethers disagreed in their own ways. He stood and walked into the bathroom, deciding to pacify his unwanted urges in the shower before trying to sleep off these turbulent feelings.

Ed wandered the campus with his hands in his pockets, one hand clenched into a fist around a small plastic bag until he saw the place, and the person, he was looking for.

"Yo dude, I was wondering if you'd show up," Dee called as Ed jogged over to him, clapping the taller boy's shoulder then gesturing back to a small group of people behind him, including two younger women almost identical save for one's dreadlocks were blonde tipped in blue and the other's were pink-tipped, and a pale boy taller than Ed but a good deal thinner, with bright red hair, a ring through his lower lip and gauges in his ears. Ed took a seat beside the girls and looked back at Dee as he took a similar plastic baggie, as well as a glass pipe out of his bag.

Only the youngest boy was back in his room in the morning.

Kevin woke up that morning feeling a little drained. His sleep had been interrupted by a nightmare that he couldn't even remember. He took a shower and combed his hair and looked at himself in the mirror while brushing his teeth. He looked like he'd been through shit. He knew he'd have to do something about his stress soon. He walked out and touched Ed's bed. Like he thought, it was cold. Ed had never come back.

Frowning, he dressed and headed to breakfast. He quickly found Tina among her friends and was invited to join them. Most of them were fellow soccer players but a few others were on the softball team. There were a couple of other guys in the group, both in track and field. They seemed surprised a football player would want to talk about their sports but Kevin had been a part of most of the sports between middle and high school. Football just happened to be the one he'd settled into. 

After finishing he walked Tina to her class making sure to agree with how nice her friends were before heading on to his own first period. He couldn't help wondering what happened to Ed and whether he'd show up to his classes today.

Ed had seated himself on the opposite side of the cafeteria from Kevin and his new group of friends, once more snugged between those twin girls and Dee. The girls always seemed to have small, knowing smiles as if they could see directly into his head, and the fact that both of their eyes were sunflower yellow with silver around the edges absolutely helped intensify the eerie factor. Ed found himself in a staring contest with one of them until the youngest of them, the redhead, had said something that made Dee guffaw and clap Ed's back, though he hadn't been sure why.

When breakfast was over Ed headed toward his first class and settled down somewhere around the middle, trying to be attentive but his obvious attention deficit and his new habits soon had his mind wandering.

Kevin managed to barely pay attention in both the classes he had before lunch. He pulled his phone from his backpack and checked his messages on the way and found he'd gotten a text from Tina saying her and her friends were going off campus for some wings and fun before next class. Kevin texted back a reply about having to run an errand. He didn't feel like leaving campus right now. He didn't feel like that group was giving him what he needed to be happy.

He took his lunch in a container that day and headed back out to eat under the shade of a tree. He put his ear buds in and let his player begin to run through his music on random. He just couldn't figure out what was wrong with him an wondered if it was the lies he'd been telling lately. His Mom would blame it on that. His Dad would tell him to be a man and forget those sissy feelings. 

"What a week." Kevin took another bite of his lunch. He thought he heard someone in the bushes nearby but he ignored it deciding it was probably one of the hundreds of stupid squirrels on campus. Several yards away a group was sitting together and chatting amongst themselves, but it wasn't quite loud enough to disturb Kevin's thoughts.

One of the girls drawled in her quiet, accent-less voice about some sort of psychic ritual, raising a hand to show the Wiccan symbol of protection around her wrist and her sister clasped hands with her and the two of them leaned against eachother, smiling at the boys as they listened, munching idly on the random assortment of snacks piled around them. Ed was distracted though; he'd seen Kevin approach where they'd chosen to hang out that day and had almost mentioned the fact to his new little group, but had thought better of it. It didn't seem like Kevin had noticed them there and with any luck, he would leave them alone. He knew Kevin didn't want to be around him anymore and while that hurt, it was understandable. Not many of the Cul de Sac kids had wanted to be around him even when he had the other Eds except maybe his sister, and even that was something of a rare occurrence.

Kevin could hear the girl clearly after he turned his music off but he did not remove the buds from his ears. He looked in the corner of his eye in the direction of the voices and caught a glimpse of Ed's head. So, he had a little group of friends. He decided not to judge the weird chicks or say anything to them. He continued to pretend to listen to his music while eating. He even acted like he was changing songs every now and then. He began to move in time to music that wasn't even on while he strained to figure out what kind of crowd Ed had fallen into.

Ed grinned as Dee finally waved a hand to get the others' attention, the boy with piercings straightening up and closing his book as he leaned forward with his arms propped against his long, stick-thin legs.

"Ok guys, I managed to score some King cheap off a friend downtown. We can do that up tonight, or save it for the weekend and finish off the Kryptonite we already have," the evident ringleader announced then let them all look between themselves. Eventually it was decided that they should 'save the good shit for when they had more time to get completely fucked up'.

Ed had stayed quiet, nodding his head though he didn't really put any heart in it. He was starting to worry, but once again, he reminded himself that these guys were his friends. The only ones he had here.

Kevin wasn't sure what they were talking about. He knew Kryptonite was Superman's weakness, but what did that have to do with anything? He decided he better split before Ed noticed he was there and listening, even though he was still faking being off in another world with his tunes. He picked up his bag and trash and headed off toward the building with his next class. If he really felt curious he could ask Ed about his friends later. For now he'd leave it alone.

He made it to the classroom with 15 minutes to spare and after throwing away his trash picked out a seat. He hated being the first one there, but he couldn't spy on Ed any longer. The urge to get involved in something he had known nothing of had been becoming too strong.

Ed managed to make it to his next class on time and made sure to sit in plain sight, as Dee had advised him to; this was to waylay suspicion, especially when he'd missed classes already. He had his book open and he concentrated on his page. The wrong one, with the book upside-down, but the fact that he had the right book to begin with had to count for something, right?

When class ended and Ed had barely absorbed more than a few sentences of the lecture, he edged out and scratched a little at his hair as he looked around for his new posse.


	3. Driving Miss Emma

Kevin sat through his last class bored out of his mind. Something didn't sit well with him about Ed's new friends, but he shook it off as them just not being his kind of crowd. He walked out and toward the cafeteria on the lookout for Tina and her group of friends. He hoped their outing at lunch wasn't her way of starting some kind of game with him to see if he'd get jealous. He wouldn't be able to deal with that right now. One good thing he could think about was that the brothers had not tried anything and the rumors seemed to be calming down.

At least, that was what he'd hoped. But within the frat house, out of the pledges' knowledge, the brothers were plotting.

It wasn't until after they'd seen Kevin leave the campus that they put their plan into action. Ed was sitting in the middle of his half of the room, a comic book in hand. One boy pulled a handkerchief around his eyes, another one around his mouth and the biggest guys from the football team held his arms and legs still as they carried him outside. He only knew it was outside by the way the air immediately raised his skin in goosebumps.

Meanwhile Tina was in full flirt with Kevin, asking him personal questions and hanging on his arm. Kevin was getting tired of his interrogation fast, especially since he was having a problem getting a word in other than his answers. He managed to eventually flee to the bathroom for a moment of peace. He'd managed to skirt the questions about his past girlfriends but he knew she was starting to get really serious way too fast. He eventually got her talking about her family and friends to get her off his case. 

When he got back to campus he was looking forward to relaxing and just going to bed. He wondered if Ed would be there or if he'd be spending another night out of the room.

In the middle of Kevin's side of the room laid the comic Ed had been reading with its pages crumpled how Ed would never let them be; he was obsessive about the states of his comics just short of keeping them in plastic covers. This wasn't right. There were other pledges gathered around the doorway of the room, staring into it, then around at Kevin when he rounded the corner.

They knew now what was going on, their expressions said so, but it didn't look like any of them would say anything. At least, not at first. Pledges in this fraternity knew better than to talk when it came to hazing, or really anything that their upperclassmen did.

Kevin glared at the group and grabbed the one that flinched the most. "What happened to my roommate, man? Where did they take Ed?" He balled his other fist and shot dirty looks at the rest of them. He wasn't the biggest of them, but he had the attitude of someone who didn't mess around, and he knew it. It might just be because he was used to trying to act big and bad, but right now he was convincing himself he was. He couldn't abandon Ed. Not only did he know too much, he didn't deserve whatever they might be doing.

"I'm going to ask only one more time before I start knocking heads, where did they go? Where the hell did they go?" Kevin pinned the shaking pledge to the wall and glared at all of them. The pledge finally squeaked out an answer and Kevin dashed out of the Frat house, hoping he wasn't too late.

Getting Kevin into precisely that state was what the fraternity had hoped for, however and when they saw him skid to a stop a hundred yards away, a glass bottle was thrown onto a smouldering fire, which erupted to throw the area into sharp relief.

Around the campus was a dense forest ordinarily used by the biology, ecology and other such departments for practical classes. The shadows were deep between the trees but the fire threw flashes of bright orange light into the faces of the top fraternity members and, on his knees in front of them and stripped to a grey tanktop and boxer shorts, an Ed completely opposite what Kevin had seen the last few days; he was shaking, his head down and swiveling from side to side as he tried to track the laughter around him. When he heard Kevin's voice his head shot up but before he could say anything, something sticky was poured over him from a large drum wedged between branches overhead. It smelled sweet, but it was light in color.

"Karo," one of the guys said as he tossed a bottle over the fire to roll to a stop in front of Kevin as the boy stopped dead before them. "Bugs and all kinds'a critters like it. Three guesses as to what's gonna happen to your Ed-boy here."

Kevin tried to remember if Karo syrup was flammable. They might just be planning to make him suffer with the bugs and the ants, and that would be bad, but if it was flammable it could be much, much worse.

"Let him go, you guys know this shit is illegal. He's never done anything to deserve this. Showing you up a little didn't do anything but bruise your egos." Kevin had a bad feeling in his gut and wanted to flee but his anger among other feelings kept him from abandoning Ed in his moment of need. He was surprised he was feeling so calm but knew it might just be the adrenaline. "Just let him go and we'll forget all about this." Kevin had known better than to make a move forward. He remembered he had his phone in his pocket; if he could only dial 911.

"Oh no, this ain't just about egos," one of the older guys said as he stepped forward, running a finger through the goop on Ed's shoulder then walking up to Kevin and wiping the stuff on his shirt. "This is about you new guys, getting a little too friendly and don't give me that 'friends from way back' line. We've been watching you. Apparently nobody gave you the memo on what happens to guys like you around here..."

At some signal more syrup was poured over Ed while a couple more took advantage of Kevin's distraction to drag his arms behind his back and tie them before he could struggle away. They marched him over to where Ed was and knelt him down in front of him in the slowly spreading puddle of Karo. Then they started rifling through his pockets, throwing his belongings onto the ground a little ways away. Kevin struggled with the bonds trying to lash out in any way he could. He his mind was racing. Every guy here was bigger than he was and he now had no use of his arms. He knew they could die tonight if these guys wanted to go that far. He really hoped though that what they were planning wouldn't make him wish he were dead as he rubbed his wrists over and over, trying to undo the bonds.

"You know you'll never get away with it." Kevin was trying hard to stay calm but it wasn't easy. He knew Ed could tell he was directly in front of him. "Try and break out of it Ed, please." He whispered out of the corner of his mouth as the group laughed at his feeble threat. "Just what do you think you're going to do to us?" He knew he had to keep them talking. Anything to buy them more time to get loose or be found.

A foot planted between Kevin's arms forced him forward into Ed, his face smearing through the sticky syrup dripping from his head and neck down over his chest and stomach. Ed made a quiet, miserable sound and started wrenching his arms around, trying to free himself from the tie around his wrists in vain.

"You don't want him to get ate up by all the nasty little insects around here, you clean him up. How will be up to you. Only one catch though...

You can't use your hands."

The rest of the team laughed as if this were the most hilarious thing they'd ever heard but Ed leaned down over Kevin as the other boy's head landed in his lap. His lips brushed against Kevin's ear as he muttered hurriedly, "Don't do anything, I'll get my feet out and find some water-"

"No you won't, _Eddy_ ," the biggest guy snarled as he poured more of the syrup over them both then forced Ed to bend further and press against Kevin, nearly suffocating him. "Ain't no water source around here 'cept for the fountain and that's about a mile away."

Kevin grunted as he was forced downward and tried to think. He knew what they wanted to see. He wasn't stupid. He knew they were right, there was no water around. There were at least a dozen guys he could see and no telling how many he couldn't in the darkness.

When Ed was forced down he struggled to pull himself out from under his fellow captive. Appearances no longer mattered to Kevin, these guys were only going to let them go if he complied. Getting rid of the Karo would be a lot better than letting them both get eaten up by the bugs of these woods. Not to mention the probability of getting tied to trees with no way to get free. The Karo felt strange and uncomfortably sticky on his body as it coated his clothes but he knew they'd probably cut those off during this affair. "Take it easy, Ed. I'll figure something out." He whispered as he leaned towards the other after managing to get free from his weight. He pressed his mouth to Ed's neck and began to lick the Karo off to the delight of their tormentors.

Ed's eyes flew wide behind the blindfold and he tried to pull himself up and away, the strange sensation shooting straight to his groin unwanted. He gritted his teeth as he was forced back down though, listening to the other guys whoop and laugh at the display. He let a harsh, sobbing breath as he bowed low, begging Kevin to stop until more of the syrup was poured while Kevin's clothes were stripped away. His head dipped low and apologies stuttered from his lips as he began to heed their captors' wishes as well, his long, broad tongue running in long sweeps over Kevin's bare shoulder.

"Good...lick it all off, faggots," the ringleader snarled then stepped back and left them in the ring of firelight, one of the others taking a moment to remove Ed's blindfold so he could see exactly what he was doing, and who he was doing it to.

"Don't worry about it, we're in this together. We'll live." Kevin whispered as he shuddered at the sensation of Ed's tongue on his body. He could hardly bear to look Ed in the eyes. He ignored the fact that the last pour had coated his hair and continued his work. He could quickly feel himself becoming aroused from not only Ed licking his body but from getting to put his mouth to work on the person he'd been unable to get out of his head since that first morning. 

He vowed vengeance to no one in particular and started on Ed's shoulder. He couldn't make the same broad swipes as often as Ed could and was having a hard time concentrating as every time the other male's tongue made a pass his stomach started to flutter again. He knew he was quickly heading toward his limit. He put it out of his mind and continued his work, hoping that this was all they had to do tonight. He doubted that it would be.

One of the people around them pointed out the slight tenting in Kevin's shorts as well as that just barely starting to form in Ed's. The taunting, jeering catcalls from the fraternity increased in volume as Ed began to work down, cleaning Kevin's skin of the syrup that was already attracting ants and bugs to them, the firelight bringing moths and other insects. It didn't look like they were going to be relieved of their bindings any time soon and so were forced to crawl on their knees and squirm to reach what they could.

Ed's stomach pulled in away from Kevin's tongue when it got that low, soft, shameful sounds escaping him as he tried to keep his rapidly slipping control in the face of such public humiliation the like of which he'd never experienced before. Being covered in lint and played off as a scented plush by Eddy didn't even come close.

"Good, good..." the jocks murmured as they watched the two pledges try to reassure one another.

Kevin ignored the noise and tried to pretend it was just him and Ed. He ignored the fact that he was beginning to get bugs along with the now sickeningly sweet syrup. He bit his lip every time a noise tried to escape him, but after he had cut his lip open he just tried to make them as quietly as possible. It was getting harder to reach parts without the use of his arms. He ignored the taste and just forced himself to continue the deed. He tried to be a gentle as possible on more sensitive areas. This was like someone had taken his wildest dream and turned it into a nightmare. If this didn't make him go straight, he knew nothing would.

"You're doing fine, man. Just pretend they aren't here." He whispered and briefly rested his face against Ed.

"I just wanna go home," Ed groaned, spitting what felt like a fly to the side as he stopped to catch his breath. He looked into Kevin's face briefly, then put his head back down. He adjusted himself on his knees and used his head to nudge Kevin back and expose his abdomen then leaned forward, becoming terribly gentle as he cleaned the firm, taut skin of his friend's stomach clean of the syrup that was making him more and more nauseous.

Kevin managed to press his hands to the ground to keep from falling over. He shuddered, the fluttering feeling and the ever growing tightness in his groin was becoming unbearable. He knew Ed was just as sick of the syrup as he was, but they had to either finish the job and hope to be freed or risk whatever penalty failing involved. "It can't be for much longer," he whispered in reply. He was trying to hold back any reaction as Ed headed lower. In a better situation this would have been very pleasant, but right now Kevin just wanted this night to end.

As soon as the last trail dribbling down Kevin's stomach had been cleaned away Ed sat up on his knees, looking thoroughly sick to his stomach in spite of the strong flush across his face. There were bites springing up over his arms and parts of his chest from the attacking bugs and he was squirming with the need to scratch but only making the bruising the tie around his wrist was bringing up that much worse. "Help," he pleaded quietly to Kevin, his lower lip wobbling.

Kevin immediately pushed off the ground with his hands and crawled on his knees to Ed. He began to quickly work his mouth over Ed's arms. He ignored all the bugs he was taking in, only quietly cursing once when an ant bit the corner of his mouth. The bugs didn't make the syrup any less sickening and he was glad when he managed to clear Ed's arms so the he could finish the patches he missed earlier on his roommate's chest. He had to try very hard not to make a wrong move and end up on top of Ed.

"Almost done," he whispered, almost urgently. Ed's sad and scared brown eyes were tearing at his armor and bringing him back towards the reality of the situation. He was scared too, maybe even more so than Ed, but someone had to be the strong one here.

Ed closed his eyes tight as he let Kevin remove the last of the Karo from his body, his stomach churning in conflict with the stirring in his groin. He let a hitching breath as Kevin's tongue passed over his nipple but made no other move than to pull away, looking back around at where their captors had stood...only to realize that they were now totally alone.

"Guys?" he called out nervously, only to be greeted with silence. He stared back at Kevin then slumped over and let a harsh breath. "Gimme your hands...I'll try and untie them..."

Kevin tried to be as quick as possible while still being gentle as he finished Ed's chest. He felt sick with all that sugar in his system now. He knew he would probably crash later. He listened hard as Ed called out for the brothers and looked around. No one was in sight.

He swallowed, nervous at the silence. He carefully backed away from Ed and turned around to give him access to his wrists. "I wonder where the hell they all went..." He glanced toward where he had seen his phone, wallet, and keys thrown. Hoping he could get his cell back at least and be able to call for help if they needed it.

Turning as well, Ed felt the knots with his fingers and worked at them slowly, murmuring nonsense to his breath the whole time until finally the binding around Kevin's wrists fell free and he was able to move his arms again. Then he rocked up onto his knees and worked his long arms down around his bottom and under his legs, pulling his feet through the loop of his wrists and holding up his hands. He settled for just untying his feet so that at least he would be able to work some life back into them; he'd been kneeling for what felt like hours and his feet were almost completely numb. He shook his legs for a minute to get them to move right then pushed himself upright. He wasn't going to bother asking Kevin for help, not when-

Oh god...

Retching sounds drifted out of the dark after Ed sprinted into the woods, tapering off gradually until once more the forest was silent.

Kevin frowned for a moment in the direction Ed took off. He stood and retrieved all his belongings and clothes, feeling extremely ill now and he still had the problem in his boxers to deal with. He walked for a bit in the direction of campus before hiding in some bushes to relieve his painful erection. He found himself tearing up as he stroked himself; tonight had just been the worst. He finally managed to relieve himself but he took little pleasure from it. Kevin dragged himself out of the bushes and pulled his jeans back on then walked back to the site to see if Ed was going to come back. He felt worse when he approached the fire again. He gripped his still sticky hair as he bent over and purged himself of the disgustingly sweet mess in his stomach.

Ed was sitting there by the fire, rubbing his hands shakily across his mouth after he'd gotten sick. He looked over at Kevin, grime streaking his face as he'd tried to wipe the syrup off it. There were insect bites littering his skin head to toe and his shorts were sticking to him with the Karo. He put his head down against his knees to keep from looking at Kevin until they realized that the sun was rising.

"Go back," Ed said quietly and pushed himself to his feet, already starting to walk. He had in mind what he needed already.

Kevin frowned at the eaten-up boy before him. He was going to say something until Ed told him to go. His gut was already burning but he got hotter when Ed started walking off. It wasn't like he wanted to talk about this shit or anything. That was what he told himself at least. He wanted to shout out a 'fine!' and start yelling at Ed but he simply scowled at the other's disappearing back. He took off running in the same general direction after he'd lost sight of Ed, heading towards the lot where his car was. He wanted to scream and be alone and now might be the only time he could.

He got into his car and stuck his head between his knees and just yelled. It wasn't any word but it summed up all the feelings of that night. He leaned back up exhausted and wiped his eyes with a bug-bitten arm. His phone buzzed with an early morning text from Tina about breakfast and he screamed again as he threw it in his backseat.

\--

Kevin didn't feel much better after venting in his car. He retrieved his phone and wandered back to the frat house, luckily running into no one. He went straight into the bathroom and showered off. It took a lot of hot water and soap to get all the syrup out of his hair but he finally managed it. He blasted his body with cold water to offset the heat and felt like he was going to pass out. He locked the room door and shut out the light coming in on his side with the curtain. He doubted he could go to his first two classes, but maybe he'd feel better by lunch.

When Ed appeared a few hours later, he was clean and smiling absently once more and scratching a little at various places, his eyes on something far away. Dee was following right behind him with a smile of his own, but he never looked over at Kevin as he helped Ed into the bed on his side of the room.

Kevin woke up and scratched one of the bites on his arm. His wrists were still sore and his head still felt heavy. He knew he better get something in his stomach, even if it meant leaving campus. When he opened his eyes he finally spotted the two in the room. He recognized the guy as being one of the strange circle Ed had fallen into. The blonde had taken a seat on the edge of the bed and picked up one of his comics, flipping through it idly.

Last night flooded back in in horribly vivid waves and Kevin shut his eyes again. Why, oh why had he ever thought college was a good idea? He couldn't help uttering a quiet groan. At the sound Dee looked up, shaking his head a little. After Ed had been...loosened up, he'd relayed bits and pieces of his night and so at least four other people now knew what had happened between him and Kevin. They considered giving him the same things they had given Ed, but Ed had insisted they leave Kevin alone; he had more of a future at stake. They agreed after a little while then just kept Ed still and calm as his mind began to basically dissolve.

The young blonde man pushed himself up off the bed and tipped a salute to each of the sleeping roommates, then left in silence.

When Kevin woke up again the sun was setting. His phone went off and he knew it was Tina on the other end before he answered it. "Hey, no I'm just feeling a bit ill today. No, I don't need to go to the doctor. Look, just back off, please. I really had a bad night last night and I don't feel like answering a million questions again." Kevin scowled.

"I'm not yelling... Look just back the hell off, I never said we were dating and neither did you. I thought we were having fun hanging out and all and now you want to start bitching just because I miss a few meals that we didn't plan eating together in the first place." Kevin was shaking with anger now. "Fine, go to dinner with him. Call it a date for all I care. Call me back or not. I don't give a shit if you're going to act like this." Kevin hung up the phone and put it in his pocket. He'd forgotten Ed was still in the room.

Ed was staring, shaking slightly as he watched Kevin yell into his phone at the blonde girl, whom he heard shriek something before the line went dead. He winced a little then shook his head and shuddered at a horrible wrench in his gut, his arms wrapping around his middle. When the strange cramp wore off he just stood and headed for the bathroom. He was thirsty, hungry, and he felt like something was crying out in his head.

"I'm going to find Dee," he said finally then changed into some clean clothes without looking around at Kevin.

"Go ahead then, go hang out with them. I don't give a shit." Kevin answered in a low even tone. It was only the third day and he already wanted to go home...well maybe not home, but just leave this hellhole. He lay back down with his back to Ed, waiting for him to leave. The words Tina had screamed were swirling around in his head and dragging up last night again. He remembered every moment as if it just happened, he could even still taste the Karo. He flipped on his phone and blocked Tina's number after a few moments' deliberation; he wasn't going to bother trying to deal with her. He couldn't do it anymore. Ed didn't want to talk about, Kevin didn't want to bring it up, and who knew what the Frat might do to them next.

After Ed left, he showered one more time to try and wash the memories away. When that failed, he pulled on some fresh clothes and headed out. He made his way to the campus food court and got a simple sandwich and some tea. He hoped he could down it without getting sick. He wandered around considering where he could eat in peace when he spotted the back door of the theater the drama department performed their plays in. He made his way in after finding the door unlocked and the theater empty, and sat down on the edge of the stage to eat in peace. He had never felt so alone as he did at that moment.

Kevin stood after finishing and looked around. The little stage was no where near the best he'd ever seen and it looked like their budget must have been decreasing over the years. He saw something shiny sitting on top of the curtain and light controls and picked it up. It looked like a dagger. He pressed the side to his wrist experimentally to see what it was made of.

"You know that isn't real, right, honey? If you really want to cut yourself you'll need something sharper than a fake dagger." Kevin turned and saw the speaker was a tall, lean boy with bright blue tips to his black hair. He was dressed in a tight shirt and even tighter jeans. "I'd guess by your appearance, that you are the one the jockstraps have been going on about. Honey, you must have had some bad luck if they found you in the closet so easily. You should have been more careful, but I guess I didn't know much better as a freshman either."

Kevin stared at this apparition out of nowhere. He had no idea where the hell this guy came from. He'd been facing the doors and had seen no one enter. "Where did you...?"

"Oh, I was backstage when you came in. I've learned to move pretty quietly. Now how about I give you a little advice?" The male sat on the edge of the stage and patted the spot beside him. "Junior to freshmen, if you will.

"I get the feeling you're just a confused guy from some suburb still struggling with your identity. I saw you trying to pawn yourself off on that little sweet thing to try and get away from your real problem. It won't work." He smiled at Kevin with his eyes shut as if he had just said something amazing. Kevin felt too confused to even try and say anything.

"Being gay doesn't tell people who the hell you sleep with, honey. Like most labels it just tells people where you are in the pecking order. Yes, you can say I am homosexual because I have sex with men, but really it would be more accurate to say a gay man is somebody with zero clout." He looked up at the ceiling for a moment and smiled again. "Well, at least for now. I happen to be a tad more optimistic these days. But here on this campus you can tell that your brothers don't care if they were one hundred percent right about you, they just wanted to bring you down a peg."

Kevin had been given a lot to think about in a very short period of time. This guy had a point about those assholes: they would have believed what they wanted to regardless. "Who are you anyway?"

"Oh, honey I thought you'd never ask. Call me Ciel." He smirked.; it was obviously an alias. "But it makes those of us on campus more comfortable when we are in our real clothes to be called by different names while on campus as our real selves. That way when I go back to my straight costume tomorrow, I won't have to worry about any overheard conversation or rumors since Ciel and who I am in class are two different people."

"How would you...?" Kevin was feeling like he knew less and less of what the hell was going on by the second.

"Oh I reapply these highlights every time I go out as myself. The things we have to do to hide on this hick campus, I swear." He rolled his eyes and laughed a little at the confused look on Kevin's face. "Looks like they really did a number on you, honey."

"He's not the only one," came a quiet voice barely laced with country accent as a figure tall as Ed but thin as 'Ciel' stepped into view on the stage, shaking bright red, slightly wavy bangs out of his face. The hazel eyes of the quietest one in Ed's circle locked on Kevin as he walked to the edge of the stage and sat down a few feet away with one knee pulled up to his chest.

James held their stares for a second before continuing, "You guys can hide all you want but someone somewhere will always know. Doesn't matter how you try to disguise it. And it's not just about your sexuality. All kinds of bad shit has to be covered up for the majority of us to survive here." He chewed a moment on the ring through his lip as he fell silent. Up close, his eyes were bloodshot and tired but somehow he still managed to look healthy, or at least as healthy as anyone who had chosen to fry their brains one cell at a time. When he caught Kevin's eyes directly he leaned in, his voice falling further. "Ed's gonna need some help that I really doubt you can give him. Just leave him alone for awhile."

He stood slowly and tucked his hands into his pockets, the dark green skinny jeans hugging his long, slender legs in ways as flattering as those Ciel wore. He walked away with the long, sloping stride of a boy held together with rubber bands and resin.

"That one, has problems." Ciel said as James left them. "Guessing Ed is the one that shared in your punishment?" He cocked his head to the side and seemed to be considering something. "Might want to think about what he just said. He did have a point. The Frats are hard on all of us weirdos. You just had the bad luck to end up in the lion's den, honey. Yours is well known as the worst."

Kevin nodded trying to piece together everything he'd just been told. He didn't like the idea that that guy thought Ed was in some kind of trouble. Maybe he was; he'd been acting awfully strange lately and the crowd he had fallen into was pretty shady. "He looks like he's been doing shit."

"Oh, I wouldn't doubt it. The campus is neither dry of alcohol nor recreational drugs. That's the reason I make members of my circle get tested for HIV if I see signs of them doing needles before I'll even consider going out with them or letting them go out with anyone else in the group. Not that I don't already make people get tested before entering. Well _Ronnie_ , if you ever need me, leave me a note under seat A7 in the morning or afternoon. I'll show up at here at night. Be careful now." He hopped down and headed toward the door. He turned once and waved and Kevin returned it weakly, feeling uneasy and exhausted again. He waited a few minutes after Ciel left, feeling that he should even though he wasn't asked to, before heading out and back towards the Frat house. He needed to see Ed right now.

James' 'problems' grew even more evident as he started to shake just a little when he left the theater until he managed to find a quiet place, lighting up a small home-rolled and taking a long drag on it then smiling as he headed in the direction of his dorm with the intention of checking in on Ed, who by now had to have woken up.

When he arrived Ed was bent over the toilet dry heaving.

"Bad reaction?"

"Bad reaction," Dee nodded then rubbed Ed's back as the redhead straightened up, wiping the bile from his lips with the back of his hand. "So what's the deal with his jock buddy? He still freaking out?"

"Sorta...He ran into Sam...y'know, 'Ciel'? So he might be fine...eventually."

\--

Kevin made it back into the frat house without incident. He met no one until he reached the second floor and it was only a few of the pledges he'd threatened the night before, including the one he'd pinned to the wall. They cringed as he passed but he only scowled at them. He entered their room and felt like yelling when he realized Ed wasn't there. He had no idea where Ed was or when he'd be back or even _if_ he'd be back. He locked the door and began pacing.

"Shit," he muttered as he made his fifth pass of the floor. "I should be there for him. We fucking went through this together. He didn't even..." Kevin dropped onto his bed and yelled into his pillow. He felt like he was going insane. It didn't help that he now knew he was at the college from hell. Not only that, but he was in the worst possible place in ir. He didn't feel like he had the strength to go out again. He turned out the light and laid on his back running last night and 'Ciel' and James' words through his head over and over.

Ed reappeared around midnight, singing quietly to himself and scratching at his arms again. He flopped down on his bed and automatically passed right back out after having walked halfway across the campus. He snored loudly with his arm up over his eyes and the other one hanging over the edge of the bed. He never even bothered stripping out of his jeans and so he laid there in his jeans and an open button-up. His sleep was deep and thankfully dreamless and it almost seemed as if he might never wake up.

Kevin wasn't sure when he'd managed to fall asleep, but he knew he had when he saw Ed back in his bed. He stormed over to say something but stopped short when he saw how peacefully he was sleeping. Kevin's scowl dropped into a frown. He knew he hadn't slept that peacefully, why should he consider denying Ed that peace? He showered and dressed and headed out to get breakfast, deciding to bring Ed back something before class.

By the time he returned, though, Ed was no longer on his bed. The bathroom door was shut and the shower was running, but it was in that monotonous way that suggested nobody was in the stall.

"Ed?" Kevin opened the door and found him sitting on the floor. Hunched in the corner between the toilet and the shower stall Ed sat and shivered, his arms up over his head. The nonsense that poured from his lips occasionally decided to congeal into one word, over and over, "no". "Ed!" He ran forward and dropped down on his knees to get a better look. Ed didn't seem to know where he was. Kevin grabbed his arms and pulled him out of the bathroom and back to his bed.

Kevin was in a panic now. He knew he might need to get Ed to a doctor, but he wondered whether he should call an ambulance or just drive him to a hospital. "Ed, can you hear or see me?" He touched Ed's face and made him look straight at him. He could feel Ed's pulse racing and the sweat on his skin. Ed struggled for a moment when he was grabbed, nearly pulling out of Kevin's grip but curling onto his bed when he felt it beneath him. His pupils had shrunk down to pinpricks and his skin was hot and damp, his hands shaking. His eyes darted around the room, never looking directly at Kevin as he tracked things that nobody else could see.

Outside in the hall a small crowd had gathered to watch the strange scene unfold, turning away when Ed heaved forward and spat a mouthful of sour bile onto the floor between himself and Kevin.

The puking was enough for Kevin. He pulled Ed into a fireman's carry and shoved his way past the crowd. He kept a death grip on the heavier male who went to struggling as soon as he was pulled off the bed. He made it out of the frat house and started moving as quickly as he could to his car. He just hoped he could get Ed help before something worse happened. He didn't want to even consider that Ed could die this morning. He put Ed on the passenger's side and struggled to buckle him in.

Ed jerked around and ended up toppling out of the car as he hit the passenger door's handle just right, scrambling away from Kevin desperately. He'd retained just enough of his already rather questionable sensibility to know that if he was taken to the hospital, he would be piss-tested or just found out by the symptoms he was exhibiting and that would be the end of his football and college careers. He'd just wanted to forget, dammit! He didn't want to see-

In his mind, all around him once more the frat boys were arranged, bathed in firelight as he was bound and pleading but now, there was no Kevin, only a lot of darkness and he was scared, so scared. He ran, only stopping when a pair of bodies collided with him and the twin girls that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere in a swirl of skirts held him down. They sang to him, stroking his face and miraculously, it calmed him; he writhed less and less until finally he was just lying limp with one girl at his head, the other knelt by his side.

Neither of them even acknowledged Kevin's existence.

"Ed!" Kevin yelled as he chased after him but skidded to a halt and watched as the girls calmed him down. "What the hell is going on?" Kevin had wanted to scream it, but he kept his voice calm and low for Ed's sake. Kevin was visibly shaking with anger and fear. He was worried now about just what Ed had been up to. "What the hell have you guys being doing to him?" Kevin wanted to shove them off and drag Ed away but he worried that doing so would put Ed back into fits. Kevin was beginning to feel lightheaded and dizzy from the strain. He leaned against a car and tried to calm down.

"We did nothing to him that he didn't ask us to," replied the girl with the blue tips to her hair, abandoning her place by Ed's side to get right up in Kevin's face, her small, upturned nose nearly touching his. "Who are you to dictate what he does or who he does it with?"

"Nothing he didn't ask you to do?" Kevin felt his anger peak. "I'll bet he didn't fucking ask you to put him in this damn state!" He had been ready to try and keep calm but this bitch getting in his face pissed him off to no end. He shoved by her and approached Ed and the other one, intent on, if not taking Ed to a doctor, then at least getting him away from these two before they could give him something that would just make him worse later. The one he passed got back in his way however and Kevin was reconsidering his policy on not hitting women.

The other twin was on him in an instant, slapping him across the face. "You don't touch her," she hissed, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "He needed to forget what those idiot jackholes did to him and to you. You won't help him so we are!" She turned and went back to Ed's side, followed by her sister and together they heaved him just far enough off the ground to get him into a wheelbarrow mysteriously waiting to one side. When they dumped Ed into it he was limp and yawning repeatedly.

Kevin's face stung after the slap; he winced but it only pissed him off more. "Well, I'm helping now!" Kevin shoved past the two and took off with the wheelbarrow. No, he hadn't helped Ed after the incident, but that didn't mean he couldn't help now. Ed had run away from him and maybe he should have stopped him instead of getting angry at Ed for telling him to head back. No, he should have stopped him or gone after him.

"You're fucking useless!" one of the sisters yelled after him but her sister held her back, keeping her from chasing after him even as she hissed and spit at him in what sounded like Latin. Ed's hands grazed the grass as he was wheeled away, his head lolling. His eyes were glazed and half-open, staring into nothing.

As Kevin ran he felt a growing guilt in his stomach. This was all his damn fault. All of it. If he had never gotten upset when Ed caught him jerking off, this would have never happened. He blinked hard trying to force away the tears that crept up, stinging his eyes. He wished it was him needing to be carted around in the wheelbarrow, not Ed.

Kevin took Ed off into the woods but steered clear of the incident site. Once he felt they were far enough in, he pulled Ed from the wheelbarrow and set his head in his lap. "I'm so fucking sorry man." Kevin let the tears fall freely now. "I'm a huge, stupid goddamn jerk. I told you we were in this together and look what I did..." He stroked Ed's face gently. "I'd do anything to go back to the way it was on the first night, like in the pool. Ed, please, snap out it. I need you to be alright." Kevin began sobbing aloud now for the first time in a very, very in a long time.

Ed's arms still laid limp on either side, palm-up. Kevin looked down at them and realized what had been going on. On the inside of his arm there were needle marks. Several of them. All of them were just barely healed over but still visible and almost indistinguishable from the bug bites, save for the trails and slight bruising where his veins had been damaged. It wasn't just them smoking some shit, he had been injecting it. He checked that Ed was still breathing and loaded him back into the wheelbarrow; he knew the twins would be watching his car now so instead he began pushing Ed toward the town. He had to find some help somewhere, even if he had to walk miles to find it. "I never should have let you out of my sight. I'll get you some help whether you want it or not." He stopped briefly only to place a light kiss on Ed's face. He'd stopped crying by now. "That's a promise."

Ed's eyelids barely fluttered, a nearly inaudible groan leaving him as he tried to move, but his limbs felt as if they were made of lead. He'd come down off his high a long while ago and now he was feeling the after-effects, and every small ache, every itching bug bite and every bump of the wheelbarrow. But he couldn't complain of any of it. He was too tired.

When they mounted the top of a hill the lights of the small city sprawled out before them, the hospital being the biggest building a few blocks in and nearly devoid of cars. "Hold on, Ed. I'll get you there. You're going to be okay." Kevin was tired and sore from pushing the wheelbarrow. He ignored his body's pleas to rest and kept pushing. He had to dig in his feet and move at a slight angle to keep the wheelbarrow from dragging him down the hill. He didn't know what was worse, getting it up there or getting it down now.

He paused for only a moment on the road to check Ed for any form of ID. Finding none, he continued pushing him to the hospital. He knew Ed might get expelled, but maybe, just maybe, with no ID on him, they could get away with it. "If you get kicked out, I'm quitting, Ed. I can't do this without you now."

Of course, nothing was that simple. Confidentiality was pretty much screwed in this day and age and the first thing Kevin was asked when he'd finally wheeled Ed into the hospital and he'd been transferred into a wheelchair was what Ed's name was. The nurses could tell what had happened to him just by examining his eyes then looking down at his arms. The two of them were taken into a quieter section of the hospital and Kevin was made to sit in a waiting room by himself.

He pulled his legs up into the chair with him and rested his face on his knees. He felt horrible. He strained to hear any noise or to hear the doctor come out and give him some news. He decided his knees weren't comforting him and let his legs drop quietly. 

Then he hopped up and paced a little. He felt caged. The wait was unbearable. What if Ed wasn't going to be alright? What if he had gotten help too late? What if he had been using a dirty needle? What if, what if, what if...

Kevin slumped back into the chair feeling like he was going to throw up. He knew he was freaking out again. He seemed be making a habit of stressing himself more and more lately. He knew he'd never been so miserable as he had been this week and all his mind seemed to want to do was tell him how it could get worse.

It was a few hours before a doctor came into the room and announced that Ed would be fine. Whoever had been supplying Ed's needles had been careful about sterilizing them; they'd obviously known what they were doing. The problem was not with the drug, it was an intolerance built into Ed himself. "Your friend is going to have to stay here and detox for a few days at least," he said. "And we'll be contacting the university." He had obviously put together that the both of them were students there.

So this was it, Kevin thought. They were through in the hellhole. He'd be heading back home before the week was up. His dad would scream at him for quitting but he wouldn't let Ed go home alone. He'd figure something out. But first he knew that he needed to consider reporting the hazing. He didn't want to leave Ed just yet, so he opened the nearest local phone book started looking for the school's counseling office. He was going to make an appointment for as soon as possible in order to tell this story. Going to the coach wouldn't help. He also knew the deans might be in on whatever coverup there was bound to be. The counselors, however, could lose their licenses if they didn't report crap like this.

He was going to squeal for the right reasons.


	4. Victori Spolia

Cold. Horribly cold. That was the first thing that registered in his mind as he regained consciousness. The second thing was that he felt extremely sick. The third...

"Turn off the lights," Ed croaked, then ran his tongue across his dry lips as he let his head fall back into a pillow he didn't recognize as his own. The bed was all wrong too. The room smelled like a hospital-

He'd never regretted sitting up in his life until now, except for the times he'd sat up and smacked his forehead on something, but now was definitely the worst time to sit up. As such, he slumped back down with a pitiful groan. Everything that had happened over the last few days was a blur, with a lot of blank parts in between. Then a face floated to the forefront of his mind.

"Kevin...?"

Kevin had turned out the lights when Ed had asked and he found himself smiling in relief when Ed had spoken. "I'm here," he murmured as he stroked Ed's face gently. He'd had had quite the past two days. He wasn't sure if he should tell Ed everything yet or just let him relax. "You want some water?"

Kevin's mind ran through his session with the psychiatrist and then standing before some higher ups. He knew that the frat's status for up to the next five years was hanging in the balance with the investigation. The funny thing was that once word of his speaking out about his run-in with the brothers was out, pledges and former pledges and even some other bullied people had come forward to testify. He knew that the frat would be banned from holding events for at least a year and the responsible parties he'd managed to identify would probably be kicked out. Unfortunately, Ed's future was still undecided, but Kevin doubted there would be much leniency. He wouldn't end up in jail but it was almost certain he had no more future in this college. Kevin wanted leave along with him but he doubted it was going to be that easy. Ed was not going to take it well and Kevin knew they were probably going to fight about it.

"How you feeling, Big Ed? You're looking a bit better." Kevin knew he probably looked like shit to Ed. Part of that was not being able to get a decent night's sleep recently. He knew not all of the brothers from that night would be kicked out. If he didn't leave, he would be in for a hellish next four years. He'd slept in Ed's hospital room last night and gotten a little more sleep, at least. He had been spending a lot of time on campus dodging people. He was lucky he had had a little help from 'Ciel' and his group. He still didn't get why the group was calling him 'Ronnie' though. Dee and his group were right in the middle of the people trying to help Kevin (connections were so handy sometimes) and while they had hidden or disposed of their stash, they didn't seem to be using much, or at least were spacing out their doses.

"You look like you got hit by Rolf's cow at high speed," Ed chuckled weakly, half a small smile coming to his face as he reached up a shaky hand and ran it through the mess of Kevin's hair. He couldn't remember having gotten to the hospital, or what had happened to him prior. He hadn't even woken up while Kevin was gone spreading the story of what had happened. He felt like he'd been forced to eat some of Rolf's smellier concoctions then smacked around the head with a shovel. Thankfully though, the slow medical drip was dulling that pain. He glanced down at the IV in his arm and groaned as little flashes of his memory surfaced like bubbles from a swamp. "'m hungry..."

"I'll bet you are." Kevin smiled down at him. He could feel the relief spreading over him. All the hiding and dodging had taken a lot out of him the past few days. At first he didn't want Dee and his group's help, but after they proved they were trying to clean up their act some and explained their reasons for their use and apologies had been passed on both sides, he'd backed down and let them help him. 

"I'll get the nurses to bring you something." He squeezed Ed's hand gently with his own as he removed it from his head and put it back down beside Ed. "I'll be right back." He was gone for five minutes at most before coming back and sitting down in a chair beside the bed. "You've been out a few days, Ed. Are you hurting any?" He took Ed's hand back in his own. 

"Days?" Ed looked down at himself with a deep frown, at the bedclothes and the hospital gown he'd been made to wear for the sake of decency. He looked up at the ceiling for a moment then back over at Kevin as his food put onto the little table attached to the bed. 'Days' meant that more than likely he'd missed their first official practice. Coach would be furious... "My head...and the thingy in my arm..." Ed looked down at the IV once more with a sour expression.

"Ed, you need to eat. I'll answer your questions, but I want you to eat first." Kevin doubted Ed would have the same healthy appetite after he realized what had happened. "Don't worry, Ed. I went to practice." Though Kevin had to admit he could tell that most of the team was none too pleased with him for obvious reasons. He had had a close call in the showers afterward but had managed to hold his own long enough to get out without much more than a single small bruise on his left shoulder. 

"Feel like sitting up to eat or do you want some help?" Kevin's mouth felt a bit dry and he knew Ed could tell that he was avoiding something bad. "I don't think there is much chance of me getting kicked off the team anymore, Ed." Kevin knew they were afraid he was going to sue the school. He was glad that he was 18 and they weren't required to contact his parents about the incident. He had not signed the form giving them permission to report everything to them. Only if he became seriously injured or died could they be notified, that or had done something illegal. "I'll feed you if you want me to." 

Ed made a face, wrinkling his nose a little then shaking his head at the offer. "I'm sore but I'm not completely incapacitated," he muttered, then blinked at the word. It had spilled from his lips without much thought, almost as if it'd been Double D speaking instead of himself. He quickly forgot about it though, turning his attention elsewhere for the time being, like Kevin's status among the football team. "Aren't they mad about what...what happened? I mean, since you're my roommate and all..."

"Oh they've got plenty to be mad about me about, believe me." Kevin leaned back in his chair and smirked a little. "I'm afraid I had to squeal, Ed. The frat is in hot water now and several of those bastards are already packed and gone. Don't worry about me though, I've got some friends helping me out to keep me from getting my ass into too much trouble. I'm just worried about you right now." 

"Kevin, I don't...if you told then..." Ed wilted, not even having to finish the sentence. It was the end of his college career and it'd barely even started. He looked at his tray, suddenly having lost his appetite in spite of having eaten nothing in days. "It's good you have other people you can be with now...since I'm done for," he said quietly, his knees pulling up to his chin slowly as he sat up with the help of the remote control at the side of the bed.

Kevin had known Ed would react like this, but he knew that the other was too curious to not get right to the point. "Ed, I'm sorry but I had to. You were in bad shape. I have to be honest; I doubt the board will forgive you ending up here for rehab. They already told me you won't get pressed with any criminal charges, but all you may be able to hope for is entrance into trade school or a community college. And don't worry about you leaving me. I'm dropping out too. Now eat before you give me gray hair." Kevin picked up the spoon and got a bit into Ed's mouth.

Ed swallowed hard to prevent himself spitting the food back onto the plate, pushing the spoon away and staring hard at Kevin. "You're dropping out? But you can't do that! What about being a big star and proving yourself to your dad? You can't stop now, it's only been a week!"

"It has been a week of hell, Ed. Not to mention I'm out on campus now. The frat might lose status for a few years but I'll have enemies there for the next four years if I stay. Not to mention I wasn't sure I even really wanted to be here in the first place. I'll figure something out." Kevin scratched his chin a little and stared back at Ed. "Besides, this is my fault as much as it is yours. If I hadn't of freaked out on you so bad, you would have never turned to those guys. They are trying to clean up by the way." Kevin added, in case Ed had concerns about Dee and the twins. He still didn't know how close of friends Ed had become with them.

"It wasn't your fault...I shouldn'a said anything in the first place about it. Wasn't any of my business," Ed groused, looking down at his knees as his hands fiddled together in his lap. He made a noncommittal sound in the back of his throat at the mention of his 'friends', though in some part of his mind he was relieved; what if they ended up in the same position he was in, or worse? But back to the matter at hand...

"You can't leave the school. You can do a lot and you're a lot smarter than me. You can do some really good things but you have to stay in. Maybe you can get out of the fraternity so you won't have to be with the ones that don't like you anymore...?"

"I could move out, I mean they would find another place for me on campus." Kevin knew that as probably a guarantee if he stayed anyway to avoid a lawsuit. He frowned. "I still feel bad about this though. You can't tell me I didn't at least have a hand in what happened." Kevin looked at his shoes for a moment, thinking. Ed seemed to really want him to stay.

"Look, how about I make a deal with you? I'll stay for your sake, if you'll promise me you'll be able to get yourself back on your feet. I won't stay for any other reason." Kevin scowled at Ed a little. He wasn't angry with him, but was annoyed at himself since he knew Ed was right. 

An arm slipped around his neck gingerly and pulled him forward into the warm, thinly-clothed chest in front of him, Ed's cheek pressed to the side of his head. "Thanks, Kevin," he said quietly then pulled back, his arm still laying across Kevin's shoulder, looking him in the face tiredly. Kevin felt his heart rate begin to climb at the contact and he took in Ed's scent. He didn't blush but his smile did get a little goofy when they looked each other in the face. He was about to tell him to try and take a nap when the door opened.

The room erupted with noise. The shortest, loudest Ed in Ed's former trio burst in with an armload of what looked like snacks (which would very soon be confiscated by tutting hospital staff) and the taller, thinner Double D right behind him, looking straight at Ed worriedly, then glancing at Kevin. Immediately his expression grew sour.

"What's going on Ed?" Eddy piped up right before the sockhead could start unloading question after question on the two of them. Kevin felt like screaming at them to get out, but resisted the urge. As far as they knew Ed was nothing to him. He'd always been pretty neutral about the big Ed, except when he did anything directly to him, usually under Eddy's direction. He might have chilled out his attitude toward Eddy after the "Bro Incident", but that didn't mean they were all buddy-buddy now.

Ed had been smiling up to that point, finally realizing that since his emergency contacts consisted of his sister, his parents and his closest, oldest friends, of course the other Eds would have been the first to hear about...oh. Shit. "I had an accident," he said, chewing his lip awkwardly.

Why, oh why, was Ed's first instinct to lie to these two? Kevin backed away after ruffling Ed's hair a little. He ignored Double Dee's expression and kept his own neutral. He should have known these two would show up. Kevin strode past them, but instead of leaving like he knew he would have normally done in the past, he shut the door. "You know they can read your chart, Ed." 

Kevin walked back over and leaned against the wall near the window, letting Edd take the chair he had been in before after pointing at it. "If you don't want to tell them the truth, I will. They aren't going to stay away from it, even if you ask them to. You have to sleep sometime; actually, you probably need to now" Kevin kept his face turned towards Ed's, ignoring the other two for the moment. "I'll leave if you'd rather tell them yourself, without me here, or I'll tell them the whole thing elsewhere. I've already had to tell this story eight times since you ended up here, Ed. Nine won't kill me."

Ed just blinked as he listened to Kevin almost threatening to tell the other two what was going on, his face falling until finally he waved his hands in front of him, "Kevin it's ok..."

"Would the two of you please work something out? We don't have all day, y'know," Eddy cut in, looking highly irritable that there was someone else besides just the three of them there in the room. He looked at Kevin a bit sourly then turned back to Ed as Double D spoke up after clearing his throat politely.

"Ed, Kevin's right, we could have just read your medical chart, and you did give permission for us to do so...but I would rather hear it straight from you. Please?" At the rather sad expression on Double D's face Ed just looked back down into his lap, his hands wringing a little. He started slowly, trying to word things in a way that wouldn't make Kevin look like he was the cause of anything, but he was rather transparent when he tried to talk around the truth. When it got to the hazing, Edd clapped a hand over his mouth, looking back and forth between Ed and Kevin, looking both rather red and somewhat green. Then he told them what he'd been doing, or at least what he could remember of it, to forget and Eddy nearly blew his stack; he'd had run-ins with users, one of which ended with a scar he carefully hid under his shirt as much as possible, even going so far as to wear a shirt to the beach when he and Double D went. Edd just looked incredibly sad, knowing how very easily influenced Ed was on top of how traumatic hazing usually was to the people that it was inflicted upon.

When they all finally fell silent, Ed looked up at Kevin, as if asking if he had anything to add.

"If you two want to lay the blame on anyone, lay it on me," Kevin finally said as he took his hat off and clenched it in his fist. "He might not admit I'm the on at fault here, but I damn sure know this would have never happened if I'd have kept my cool." He quit leaning on the wall when the bruise on his shoulder started to complain about the hard surface. "I'll stay in this for him, if for no other reason than that he wants me to." _And maybe the punishment waiting there will be enough to let me forgive myself,_ he thought. "Even though I've been outed to the whole damn school now." 

"Outed?" Eddy blinked, then looked at Double D, who just looked back at Kevin.

"What about Nazz," Double D started then cut off as Ed shook his head. Obviously, he knew the story more or less, but he didn't want Kevin to have to spill his whole story to the other two. Just because the two of them were in a relationship didn't mean that they would be the most understanding or sympathetic. It was Kevin, after all.

"We're just friends now. I don't really feel like getting into how I figured out something was different about me. I've only just begun to accept this shit." Kevin shut his eyes for a moment and scowled as the memories surfaced again, not only of Nazz and him, but of the hellish week he'd been through.

Kevin approached Ed from the other side of the bed and placed his cap on Ed's head backwards. "I'm going to head back for a bit and eat, I'll be back in a little while. I'll let you three catch up." He knew he had to let the other Eds have their turn alone with him. They were his oldest friends and he doubted they felt comfortable with him around. He turned towards the door, deciding to call Ciel when he got outside and tell him he was heading back to campus. Maybe he could get a warning about what might be going on right now.

Sitting awkwardly and fiddling a bit with the hat on his head, Ed looked at the door, then back at Double D. He had always been the more reasonable of the two; maybe he would refrain from overreacting...

But it was Eddy who spoke first.

"Care to explain why Kevin was here before we were even told?" the shortest Ed asked, lifting a brow as he looked back at the Ed in the bed, his arms crossed over his chest; apparently he found it somewhat offensive that he and Edd hadn't been the first ones informed. Double D on the other hand just took the hat off Ed's head and turned it over in his fingers thoughtfully before speaking.

"How long?"

"...dunno," Ed said quietly, for he still couldn't remember all of it, "maybe three days or so...then the bad episode. Kevin took care of me though," he added, looking back at Double D, then back down at the look on his face.

Kevin met Ciel on campus after the latter had suggested he lay low tonight. He joined the group in the small theater, where they had set out food for their supper. Dee and the twins were among them, but Kevin ignored their presence and joined Ciel and the others. He explained about Ed's old chums being there now and that Ed had woken up today and seemed to be a lot more coherent. 

"Looks like I'll have to stick around even if he's kicked out." Kevin passed a hand over his hair, feeling frustrated that he didn't get a chance to really talk everything out with Ed yet. "Here's to four years of hell." Kevin raised his soda and a few of the others humored him.

"Oh, we'll have to wait and see how it goes, honey." Ciel gripped Kevin's shoulder briefly. "You've brought down quite the hammer on those bastards. I never knew just how many people they had been terrorizing. Consider this your chance to show them up, even if you're only staying because he wants you to."

\--

"I want him to stay," Ed said, "since he has so much more of a future than I would even if I was able to stick in it all four years."

"That's malarkey, Ed, and you know it. Sure, your thought processes aren't always the most... *ahem* coherent, but you are by no means an idiot."

"Yeah, you're smarter than you think," Eddy added. He'd calmed considerably and both he and Double D were sitting by the bedside, looking at Ed with rather apprehensive expressions. Ed just ran a hand back through his hair then pulled the hat back onto his head.

"Thanks, guys..."

Kevin had waited two hours before heading back. He felt calmer now and more ready to face whatever was going to be thrown his way next. He knew the other two Eds were still wary of him, but he didn't care. It wasn't their confidence he was after, it was Ed's alone. He had slipped back into their room and gotten a bag of clothes and a few other personal things for Ed. He knew the only reason their room had not been ransacked was that the frat was already in hot water and any open retaliation would only add to the case against them.

He approached the closed door and turned the knob after knocking once gently. He had to remain polite, even if he wanted to rush back in there.

The door was opened by a rather tired-looking Double D, but strangely, he was smiling. Eddy trailed behind him looking quite nonplussed, but when he saw Kevin he nodded a bit. Behind them, Ed was picking at the tray of cold food with little interest until he heard Edd greet Kevin quietly and open the door enough to admit him while letting himself and Eddy out.

"We'll be back tomorrow, Lumpy," Eddy called before the door was closed and it was once more just Kevin in the room with Ed. Ed tilted his head at the bag in Kevin's hand. "Whatcha got?"

Kevin stepped aside and let the two pass nodding as they went by. He entered and shut the door behind him.

"I brought some clothes and a few of your things." He handed Ed the bag containing other than the clothes; five carefully bagged comics, a sponge, and a few gravy packets and other odds and ends he thought might help Ed feel more at home. "Come on, at least try and eat something. I've got something special for you if you do." Kevin smiled at him. 

Ed dug through the bag, smiling a little then tossing the sponge into the air a couple times, squeezing it tightly then taking out the comics. He grinned widely and put the small stack aside before leaning over in bed and hugging around Kevin's middle for a moment. Then he dug into the bag containing his clothes and pulled out his coat. Automatically he pulled it on over his hospital gown. "You are awesome," he smiled, looking up at Kevin then back at the cold tray of food. "I'll eat if you can get something not so...hospital food-y."

Kevin grinned and rubbed the back of neck when Ed paid him the complement and gave him the hug. He swallowed once before speaking. "I thought you might ask for something better." He reached in his bag and pulled a container of soup out. It was still warm. 

"Straight from the cafeteria. I warmed it up before coming back. I've got crackers too." He sat in the chair beside Ed's bed after putting the food before him. 

"You really are awesome," Ed said with slight wonder as he picked up the container of soup, staring into it then tipping it up to his lips and taking a few long swallows. "Mmmh~" He licked his lips then reached out for the crackers and started crunching them one by one, his appetite suddenly voracious.

"Ha ha, no I'm really not that great." Kevin smoothed his hair a little and began to smile broadly. "Well since you're eating now..." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a familiar sweet, "I think you've earned a jawbreaker." Kevin had had some many in the garage as a kid that he had lost his taste for the most popular sweet in the neighborhood. He knew Ed still enjoyed them though and had noted the food Eddy brought was gone.

"So did you guys catch up?" He was happy Ed was feeling better. It was helping him to relax for the first time since the night in the pool. 

"Yeah," Ed laughed as he tossed the sweet into the air and caught it in his mouth, sucking it into his cheek to slowly dissolve. Over the years he'd mastered the art of sucking the things while still being able to talk clearly. "They basically know everything." The way he said everything, Kevin would know that he meant... _everything_.

"I'm fine with that." He knew they would know it all by the time they got through asking stuff. He wouldn't have left if he had cared about that though. "You've really had some practice with those haven't you?" Kevin couldn't help laughing a little at Ed's performance. "You must be feeling much better now." He patted Ed's hand. "You know what you might like to do yet, after you get out?"

"Maybe...talk with the board at the school and find out what's gonna happen to me for certain...get information on other schools that I can get into..." Ed looked down at the hand over his, then gingerly flipped over his own, his fingers wrapping around Kevin's gingerly. "I'll figure something out."

Kevin tightened the grip a little and looked at Ed. "I know you will, it is a promise after all." He saw Ed was still wearing his familiar red cap. He considered asking for it back for a moment, but then decided against it. "Keep the hat, Ed. Consider it a present to make up for my attitude a little." He kept ahold of Ed's hand and pressed bother their hands to his face. 

"I was so scared you weren't going to make it when I wheeled you here." He swallowed. "It scared me more than that night." Kevin stayed like that for a moment before letting their hands back down to the bed and smiled again at Ed. "I'm just happy you're alright, man."

He stood and while still holding Ed's hand he hugged him. He was happy Ed was acting this way but he had a hollow feeling in his stomach. Ed would be leaving soon. He knew they would not let him stay at the school. There was just too much to what Ed had done. He knew he'd better start looking for places for him before the hospital discharged him. He wondered if they'd ever see each other again.

Kevin knew he couldn't go home for the holidays. He was going to have to throw himself into his schooling and his sports career now. He had no idea if Ed would get into a college around Peach Creek or go somewhere else. He half hoped he wasn't here when Ed's parents showed up. They would only know about the drugs, but Sarah, if she came, might dig deeper. He would have to take whatever she might dish out.

That hug made Ed's resolve crumble, his head falling against Kevin's shoulder with his eyes tight shut. He didn't want to leave. That would mean somewhere else he'd never seen any of the people before, more than likely, and still no other Eds, and no Kevin...

No Kevin. The prospect made his heart ache a little in his chest. His arms only tightened further, the IV in his arm tugging painfully being the only thing that made him let up. He looked up at Kevin, swallowing hard.

"Thanks for being here."

"No problem, man." Kevin pressed his face to Ed's briefly before ending the embrace, worried that if he kept ahold of him he might begin to become uncomfortable. "I'll give you my number so that you can let me know if you get into any trouble." He adjusted the hat on Ed's head a little and patted it. "You'll be fine and I'll work things out somehow."

He sat back down feeling like a coward for not saying more, and even worse for not acting on his feelings. He wasn't sure what the hollowness was. It could be love or just the fear of the coming loneliness.

Straightening the baseball cap, Ed smiled faintly and looked back down at his knees. He glanced back at the emptied bowl of soup, then at the window, back at Kevin then his knees once more. He only looked back up when he head movement at the door, in the form of a nurse escorting in a tall, slender redheaded girl wearing clinging blue jeans and a halter top. Immediately she shoved on through and over to the bed, her hands on her hips as she glared at Ed, completely ignoring Kevin.

"And just when were you planning on telling me or mom and dad that you were in the hospital? We had to hear from the college that you were in here!" She went on, almost yelling as Ed cringed, putting his arms up when she swung back a hand, but jumping a little when she wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed him. "Ed, you big idiot...I told you to go to school near home..."

"I know...I'm sorry, baby sister," Ed murmured, giving Sarah a one-armed hug then glancing back at Kevin with the faintest blush, as if embarrassed to have been chewed out by a 15-year-old girl in front of him.

Kevin only smiled faintly at him in return, knowing that Sarah was probably going to ream him the moment she noticed him. He had been preparing himself for this confrontation since after he'd told the school counselor of the hazing. He knew Ed's family would show up eventually but unlike with the other Eds, this time he knew better than to volunteer information. Ed would know best when it came to how much to tell them. "He should have listened to you, the world's a scary place." Kevin knew it was best to go ahead and get her to spot him. Remaining silent was not going to help her temper when she finally turned on him.

"And you! Mister So-Cool-Jock Bully," Sarah finally growled, rounding on Kevin, prodding his chest with the tip of one manicured finger, "you coulda been looking out for him and he never woulda ended up in this mess. I read what the doctors wrote and I know what he needs to do now. You just go back to the school and bunker down there, mister because if you start tryin' to act innocent or something I'm gonna make you real unhappy in a hurry."

Kevin's hands came up defensively, but he replied, "I'm not going to deny this is my fault, Sarah. I'll leave you two alone for now, but I won't go back to campus until after visiting hours end." He looked her full in the face as he spoke. He'd never felt calmer in the face of an angry Sarah. He knew very well that he shouldn't, and wouldn't reciprocate on any punishment that she dished out, whether it be verbal or physical. "Say whatever and do whatever, Sarah, I deserve much worse."

Sarah seemed to lose some steam at that, wilting a little then huffing and crossing her arms across her chest. She'd expected much more of a fight over this. "Well then...just see to it you keep out of trouble or you'll be answering to me for that too," she muttered then stuck her tongue at him and turned back to Ed. Only then did she notice the bright red hat clashing with his hair. "What are you wearing? You look silly."

"Kevin said I could keep it..." Ed smiled crookedly and adjusted the hat so the bill was behind his head.

"It's his now, Sarah." Kevin smirked at little at Ed, "I think it suits him better than me anyway. I'm going to go chill outside for a bit, let you two talk. I'll be back, Ed. Don't get too excited."

Ed smiled a bit smugly and waved after Kevin as he left, then cringed slightly as Sarah rounded on him again. In the waiting room, an older couple that could have only been the siblings' parents were sitting, talking quietly with a doctor holding a clipboard stacked with papers and what looked like a pair of officials from the college.

Kevin leaned against a wall out of sight to listen. He couldn't hear them very well but he could see the grave faces of Ed's parents. He felt another stab of guilt and considered apologizing, wondering how much the officials would tell them. Just how many details would they get?

The one saving grace might be that his parents and Ed's weren't on speaking terms. He had not been in the hospital and he had refused to give permission for them to contact when he wasn't unwell. He'd passed his psych evaluation. He doubted they would tell his folks anything or even ask if he had. Kevin knew his dad wasn't neighborly and his mom was too stuck up to associate with people like Ed's folks. He'd wait until after they came this way to see if they wanted to speak to him. He went back to the outside of the room and leaned against the wall. Kevin wanted someone to blame him. 

With her hand over her mouth, Ed's mother rounded the corner a few minutes later; she'd left her husband, who looked a lot like Ed did now, but with a slightly receding hairline and a good deal less bulk, to deal with the doctor then get them all something from the cafeteria. She slowed to a stop when she saw Kevin, her eyes widening slightly. After having heard the clinical version that the doctors had given of what had happened to her son, she was still a bit bewildered. So when she saw Kevin standing outside in the hall, she approached slowly.

The question came slowly, carefully spoken, as if it'd come from Double D rather than any relative of Ed's, "Are you the one that...brought him here for treatment?"

"Yes, ma'am," Kevin answered in a polite tone and looked her full in the face. He had a lump in his throat now and the guilt began to twist his insides. "He's awake right now. He is much better than when I brought him." Kevin remembered the long hard walk not only through the woods but the descent of that steep hill. He'd been lucky there was no traffic. He'd been lucky there was still time to help Ed.

"It was lucky that you were there to take care of him," the woman said quietly, a small, relieved smile on her face, but behind her eyes there was something rather dim, as if she were hiding a few choice comments. She glanced back at the door at the sounds of her children talking back and forth, chuckling a little as Sarah raised her voice. She caught snatches of conversation, and a couple mentions of Kevin. She looked back at the boy in question then laid a hand on his arm as she passed him to peek her head into the room.

"Mooom, Ed's being an idiot again!" Sarah complained, crossing her arms and looking down at the woman that looked almost like her but with about forty years and living with the Eds tacked on.

Kevin nodded. Sarah's outburst reminded him of summers long gone and of the days when he was always jockeying for his position in the neighborhood and on the popularity totem pole. He'd been such an ass as a child and he knew he had to be better now. "He would have done the same for me, ma'am. He's a better person than I am." Kevin forced himself to remain still at the contact on his arm. He knew he had to relax. He'd been stressed out more this week than he had been during all the Eds' schemes combined.

Automatically Ed asked where his dad was, but when the man showed up a few moments later with a tray loaded with food he immediately grinned and reached for a foam cup full of what looked like Tang, downing it in a few seconds. The hellacious burp not long after made Dad laugh and Sarah make a disgusted noise. When the food was more or less inhaled by all of them in short order, the questions started. 

Kevin remained in the hall. He continued the lean against the wall next to the doorway until he decided he might as well get some air. He made his way outside and sat on the trunk of his car; he knew Ed was probably going to be grilled and he hoped his folks were nothing like his own. He glanced up at the sky and could only make out a few stars because of the light pollution.

He waited about an hour before heading back up to stand by the doorway again. He doubted that Ed would be as cheerful as he had left him. "This sucks," he whispered, knowing Ed might be getting the bad news right now.

By the time Kevin returned, Ed was alone. His parents had to be up in time for work, and Sarah for school. Ed would be able to go home by the day after tomorrow or sooner, if his appetite stayed as good as it had been. He was staring despondently at the wall on the opposite side of the room.

After five more minutes Kevin decided to see if they had left yet or not. He pressed an ear to the door and heard nothing but the AC in the room. He turned the handle and entered, catching Ed's face. "You okay, man?" He shut the door and sat down in the chair beside the bed again. "You get chewed out?" Kevin wanted so badly to comfort him, but he wasn't sure what his place was anymore. This was all just one big awkward mess.

"They know everything now too," Ed said quietly, taking the red cap off his head and running a hand back through his hair, sighing a little. When he'd told them everything, the questions had become more and more abstract until finally they knew... _everything._ Exactly how he felt about all of it, and the people involved. Including Kevin.

Strangely, they weren't upset. They really looked more relieved than anything. Realistically, they'd never expected Ed to find someone and the whole same-sex thing...it didn't really faze them any. They would have rathered it had been Double D, the best influence in the cul de sac, but that was neither here nor there.

Kevin swallowed. "They take it okay?" He winced when he heard his own voice squeak. He knew he had to be nervous as hell to have his voice crack. He took one of Ed's hands in his own to stop his shaking and maybe keep down the blush he knew would creep onto his face because of that sound. He knew what it was, he was still worried his parents were not only going to find out about what happened, but that they would find out he was fond of his own gender in the wrong way.

"I know my folks, well at least dad, would kill me if they knew everything. That's why I've refused to let them be contacted over this."

"But your parents should know that you're ok at least. Or are you just gonna hide from them forever?" Ed looked back at him with a rather sad expression and very tired. He looked down at their hands, one wrapped around the other, and blushed just barely. He lifted the free hand and scratched lightly at his cheek, which was grown over with a bit of stubble, making him look a good deal older on top of pretty much homeless when added to the odd assortment of clothes, including Kevin's hat and the green jacket over his hospital gown. "My folks are ok though, as far as I could tell."

"I called them after the first practice and lied about how this week was to both of them. I can't tell my dad what's been going on and I damn sure can't tell him about the real me." He let go of Ed's hand but sat down on the edge of the bed sideways. "I'm glad your parents are fine with who you are, Ed." Kevin smiled at him and felt his own stubble that had started to grow in.

"You can't really hide from them forever," Ed said sagely, nodding a bit to himself then reaching out and putting the hat back on Kevin's head, hoping to improve his mood even just a little bit. "They're your parents. The worst that could happen is them kicking you out of the house right? But you already live on campus so that wouldn't be too big of a deal. Right?" Ed's head tilted a little, his own smile widening a little.

Kevin wasn't worried about getting kicked out. He was more worried that all his dad's yelling wasn't all talk and that his drill instructor-like attitude towards his life wasn't the full extent of his way of discipline. He'd never belted him, but that didn't mean he wasn't capable of it.

"I guess so. I'm not too worried about getting kicked out; it's more of the confrontation that bugs me." He scooted up onto the bed beside Ed after kicking his shoes off and leaned his head against Ed's letting their cheeks touch. "Enough about me though. You doing alright now?" he asked, a bit worried all the excitement might have been too much for Ed today. "I'll stay until you fall asleep if you want," he offered with a smile.

Resisting the urge to rub his furry cheek against Kevin's for the sake of seeing him squirm, Ed just relaxed back, wiggling his toes thoughtfully under the blankets. "You worry about me too much," he said as he looped an arm around Kevin's neck, patting his chest lightly then returning his lean. "You worry too much about you, too. You need to relax a little. Just as long as you find a better way than me," he added seriously, then looked back at Kevin with a small, crooked smile.

Kevin swallowed and felt his heartbeat quicken at the contact. It was making him a bit lightheaded, but not in a bad way. The guilt eating away at his stomach was replaced by an entirely different feeling. He returned the smile and leaned back snuggling against Ed a little. They still had a few hours before he'd be kicked out. "You're right man. I need to stop before I get ulcers over this." He laughed and put his head on Ed's shoulder.

He didn't feel like he was the one that deserved the better chance. Ed had been by far the better person in life. Kevin knew he'd stepped on and over a lot of people as he tried to keep himself at the top of the social structure. Now he'd been cast off and was in a social limbo of sorts. He had found himself pulled into Ciel's group lately but wasn't sure if he'd stay there or find his place somewhere else.

But none of that mattered to him at this moment. Right now all that mattered was that he was getting to spend time with Ed. This was a great improvement over the harsh silence and the tension that had come between them lately. Kevin would have made time slow down or stop right now if he could just to make this moment to last as long as possible. He wrapped an arm around Ed and allowed himself a contented sigh. He'd let himself enjoy this; Ed would know if he didn't.

Ed's thoughts were mercifully slow and quite content, given the amount of medication that was keeping his system out of shock while he finished detoxing. He looked up at the ceiling, smiling at the weight on his shoulder. He tilted his own head against it, his eyes falling closed. It was almost as if they were-

Ed mentally shook his head; this wasn't going to be a permanent thing between the two of them. They couldn't afford it both for the social awkwardness and the physical distance that would soon be between them. He would have liked to be able to be like this, to hold Kevin and be able to talk with him and just generally be...intimate.

"Kevin," he finally said, speaking slowly with his eyes back on the ceiling, "How do you feel about...all this?" _About me_ was what he'd really wanted to say, but he couldn't will himself to make it awkward, or at least any more so than it already was.

"Hm?" Kevin turned his head to look at Ed, never noticing that he'd started nodding off. He was feeling comfortable and at ease at the moment. "How do I feel?" Kevin frowned for a moment, thinking about just what Ed meant. The guy was more intuitive than most people gave him credit for.

"I guess everything is still new and strange for me. I'm finally admitting to myself that I can't _cure_ this and that there is no reason for me to feel that way about it. Seeing other people like me interact in person has helped. I still feel really separate but I don't hate myself nearly as much now." He leaned back against Ed's chest and looked up at him. "How do you feel about... everything?" He touched Ed's stubble with his hand briefly. He wanted to know how Ed felt about him now so badly but he feared that sooner or later Ed would once more only see him as the bully of his childhood and not just a person, especially a likable person. Even more than that he wanted Ed to somehow be able to stay with him, but he knew that they didn't have much longer to be together like this. He'd have to make these moments count somehow.

Ed turned at the touch of Kevin's fingers on his chin, the smallest squirm in his stomach accompanying the faintest blush across the bridge of his nose. He lifted a hand to lie over Kevin's as he looked down between them with his lower lip between his teeth. Words had never been his strong suit and when he acted, it was rarely with much thought.

Kevin felt his stomach fill with odd sensations when Ed pressed his lips to his own. The kiss was short and quick, dry, a little strange since Ed had never had much practice and they were side by side, and the fact that he'd taken Kevin by surprise didn't much help. When he pulled away he couldn't quite bring himself to look Kevin in the face, his eyes darting between his lap and Kevin's face. He had not pulled away or struggled against the kiss, in fact it had managed to take away any sense he'd had at that moment. He sat stunned for a brief moment before looking at Ed and seeing the blush. He wanted more contact. He glanced at the clock; they still had at least an hour more together tonight. He sat up and turned towards Ed, gently gripping his shoulder with one had and turned his face to him with the other. He returned the brief kiss with a more prolonged one of his own, even going as far as to ease a little of his tongue in before pulling away from Ed to see his reaction. His heart was pounding in his chest and he could already feel heat building in his boxers.

Ed's eyes widened briefly then fell shut as he pressed his lips back to Kevin's once more, his hands running up the front of the other's shirt then laying against his neck, gripping gently at the hair at the nape as he canted his head and licked thoughtfully along Kevin's lower lip. He pulled Kevin over him further, letting his weight rest against him and feeling the pounding of his heart reciprocated and intensified. His legs came up, tensing from the contact that was slowly arousing him in spite of his compromised state. He wasn't even paying attention to the door or thinking of anyone that might come in to check on him and see them like this. Kevin doubted they would be interrupted. Ed wasn't due for anymore medication for a few hours according to his chart. He knew the only thing they had to be sure of was to keep the noise down. He relished the other's touch and ran his own hands over the thin hospital gown. He couldn't help moaning at the attention being paid to his lip. 

He took Ed's hand and placed it on his own crotch. "This is what you do to me, man," Kevin whispered in a low tone. He let go of Ed's hand and went for his neck, kissing, sucking, and licking wherever he felt inclined to. Ed's breath hitched and picked up, his hips squirming as the blush in his face deepened and his own erection grew plain under the thin blanket and thinner gown. He bit down on his lips then tilted his head back to give Kevin more access to his neck. He swallowed hard as his hands fisted in the other's bright red hair. The hat had long since fallen and lay forgotten on the floor beside the bed as the two became further entwined with one-another.

His hand was restless, moving over the protrusion from Kevin's shorts before finally just grabbing onto it tentatively before drawing away and running back up his side.

"K...Kevin..."

Kevin could feel the heat from Ed's erection growing underneath him as he working over Ed's neck trying to remember not to suck or bite hard enough to leave marks. He pressed his body closer to Ed's and tried to pull them as close together as possible. He moaned again as Ed gripped him, his body becoming too sensitive.

"I know..." 

Kevin swallowed and shifted a bit for a moment to remove the blanket separating them. He knew he was further along than Ed and he wanted to remedy that now. He carefully coaxed Ed to open his legs and he pulled the other male's underwear down on his hips, licking his upper lip at the sight of the erection there. The memory of the morning that he'd seen Ed in the full nude flashed in his mind for just a moment, but that didn't hold a candle to this.

He'd never gone down on anyone before. All he had to go on was porn and what he'd read about this stuff. He ran a tentative hand across the slightly weeping member and began to lean forward to meet it with his mouth.

Ed's legs nearly closed as Kevin's breath ghosted across his skin, his hands moving quickly to lie against Kevin's shoulders, pushing him back as his own eyes closed.

"Kevin, stop," he breathed, his chest still heaving slightly as he looked down with a strangely stricken expression. "We can't do that...not here. People..." he gestured a hand at the doorway to finish his sentence, his legs coming up to unsuccessfully cover the nearly full erection in his lap.

Kevin sat on the bed panting and eying Ed, feeling very frustrated at that moment. He shut his eyes and counted trying to will away what was not anger at Ed, but his own sexual frustration. He wanted to drag Ed to the bathroom and do this there or even to just open that gown and leave a hickey somewhere on his chest over this, but he dismissed the thoughts and frowned a little. "You're right..." He pressed a hand to his face and was caught between cussing out the window and throwing himself on the bed and crying like a frustrated child.

Instead he returned the discarded hat to Ed's head and got off the bed. He entered the bathroom and returned with a cold cloth for Ed to use to try and calm down. "Here, I'll be back in a moment." He handed Ed the cloth and reentered the bathroom.

Kevin locked the door and let his socks, shorts, and boxers fall to the floor. He grabbed a washcloth from the rack and got into the tub with his shirt still on. He laid back and, after wetting it a little, put the washcloth in his mouth and bit it hard. He gripped himself with his left hand and began to work himself over. His body quivered and he continued to picture Ed's needy body as he began to pump himself. 

It wasn't long before he managed to give himself the release his body needed and he let the pleasure rush over his body. He cried out into the cloth, letting out a muffled sound he was sure Ed was still able to hear. When his shivering and the waves ceased, he pressed his face to the tile wall and shut his eyes. He felt a few discouraged tears roll down his cheeks and he banged his fist against the tile.

Ed had tried to stop Kevin before he'd retreated into the bathroom, but fell limp back against the bed and stared up at the ceiling with the blush still burning bright across his cheeks. He scrubbed his hands hard over his face, trying to will away the embarrassment and frustration much like Kevin's, but he wasn't discomfited enough to break down like that. Not yet, at least. Later that evening though, it might have been a different story.

Listening to Kevin having to relieve himself in the bathroom like that made Ed put his head between his knees, breathing hard as he gripped down on himself until it was over. He swallowed hard, shivering a little as he waited for someone to come in and ask what was wrong (in every comic there was always someone waiting right outside the door just to barge in at the least opportune moment.) There was nobody though, and by the time he looked back up at the bathroom door, he'd managed to will down his arousal, only to leave a frustrated ache in his groin. He could take care of it later.

Kevin managed to calm himself down and decided to just go ahead and shower here and now to give Ed time to do the same. When he emerged he could tell Ed had managed to suppress his problem for now. He kept his face neutral as he approached the bed, by the time he had returned to the chair he realized that he still had 15 minutes before the threat of him being kicked out would loom over them. There was no guarantee they'd make him leave but Kevin knew sooner or later Ed would tell him to head back. He felt guilty for leaving Ed to relieve his problem, but if he hadn't he doubted he would have continued to let Ed stop him from getting what he wanted if he didn't get away from him.

He managed a smiled and reached over to take Ed's hand in his own. "Sorry, I think I got a little crazy." He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and looked at the floor. His mouth felt dry. Ed's fingers laced between Kevin's automatically as he nodded, the flush starting to creep up in his face once more. He looked off to one side and smiled faintly, ignoring the strong compulsion to kiss Kevin again, knowing it would only end them back in the position that had brought on the forced awkwardness once more. But still, he felt that the guilt warranted at least some form of comfort.

"It's ok," he said quietly, giving Kevin's hand a small squeeze, "it's my fault too, getting a little carried away and all...maybe later...?" He looked back up at Kevin with a small, shy smile then glanced toward the clock on the wall. It was just about time for Kevin to leave and so he chose to risk a small peck on the cheek. "I get out tomorrow and I still have time at the school before the official hearing thingy to let me know that I'm kicked out in front of a lot of people."

Kevin smiled broadly when Ed mentioned that he'd be on campus and they'd have an opportunity to spend some more time together before he had to leave. "Sure, I'd like that." He gripped Ed's hand firmly now and looked him in the eyes. Thoughts of the possibility of intimate moments once more caused a stirring in his boxers again that grew worse when he was kissed again.

That smile however turned into a frown when Ed mentioned the hearing. "You have to do it in front of a bunch of people? I thought that was just those asswipes that had their hearing like that." Kevin felt the guilt clench in his stomach and frowned. It just wasn't fair. Why did Ed have to get kicked out that way? "They could have let you go quietly..." Kevin pulled Ed's hand to his face for a moment. He wanted to do so much more to help and comfort Ed, but he knew he was helpless to do so now. The chance of them getting caught had gone way up and he knew Ed wouldn't want to risk it. He could do nothing to stop the hearing either, only support Ed.

He knew he'd better go now. He stood and hugged Ed. "It will be okay, Ed. I'll be here for you tomorrow and at the hearing if they'll let me." He gripped Ed tightly, as if daring the world to try and stop him. Ed thanked him quietly, then tugged his hand gingerly out of Kevin's grasp and laid his palm against his cheek before laying it back down in his lap just in time for his nurse to come in and glance at the two of them before starting the regular regimen of medication that would help Ed get out of the hospital that much sooner after Kevin had been politely but firmly ejected from the room.

"Visiting hours are up," she reminded him, then went back to Ed with the door closed.

Kevin had a hard time sleeping that night and this time it wasn't just the eerie silence of the frat house. He kept thinking about what it was going to be like for Ed to stand before them and get kicked out like that. He wasn't sure when he managed to sleep but he eventually had.

The morning that Ed was to be released Kevin got a call from Sarah telling him that Ed would be back on campus sometime that day and that he'd better watch over him if he knew what was good for him. Kevin had wanted to drive Ed back himself, but knew better than to offer. Today was going to be family time, one more night in the dorm, and then the hearing tomorrow morning. He got assistance from Ciel and his group in watching out for Ed's return while he had to go to class. He was happy to find Ed hadn't returned while he was away from the room but as soon as classes ended the wait in the room that afternoon became almost unbearable. He lay on his bed doing nothing but watching the door and his phone. He didn't catch himself starting to doze and soon fell asleep.

Though things like romance were fairly alien to Ed, the moment he stepped into the dorm to find Kevin asleep there with his phone on his stomach and nothing but the white noise of his breathing, he couldn't help but smile as his heart gave a small flutter that he wasn't exactly sure how to deal with. He eased himself down to sit on the edge of Kevin's bed while outside the dorm, Ciel's little troupe waited for some signal that he'd made it up there. He put a hand behind the curtain and waved, letting them know he'd gotten back in safely then pulled it back down to darken the room once more. He then leaned down with his arms on either side of Kevin's shoulders and pressed his lips in a light, barely-there kiss just in front of the other's ear.

Kevin felt the contact and drowsily opened his eyes. He jerked awake when he saw that Ed had caught him not only sleeping, but in such a girly-looking situation; he could feel his phone still clutched in his hand. He knew this was not the kind of thing that the former popular jock of the neighborhood should be caught doing. He blushed fully while looking up at Ed's face. He might have leapt away or yelled in the past but right now his brain was still catching up to the fact that Ed was out of the hospital and he managed a smile and a bit of a laugh at himself. He discarded his embarrassment for the moment and touched Ed's face with both of his hands.

"I've gotta be more careful," he smiled at Ed still feeling really hot in the face. "Looks like you caught me. Those bastards were supposed to let me know you were coming." Kevin had a feeling Ciel knew he had nodded off and had thought that this would be funny. He leaned up and pressed his lips gently to Ed's forehead. "Welcome back, Ed."

"Surprise," Ed chuckled, leaning his head down into the kiss briefly before sitting up to let Kevin do the same. Ciel had been the one to give him the idea to come and surprise Kevin like this in the first place and while it had seemed rather silly at first, now he was glad he'd decided to go with it. He sat back on the edge of the bed still facing Kevin, adjusting the red hat that sat backwards on his head with a tuft of his bangs poking from the hole over the strap. "They're gonna give me a night here so I can be there for the hearing first thing tomorrow morning. Making sure I don't miss it or something." Ed shrugged a little with a small smile, his weight propped on his arm against the bed. He'd changed into some old clothes his parents had brought him, a striped shirt and jeans rather snug at the hips from how much he'd grown since high school (his parents always marveled at how much Ed seemed to grow without stopping).

There was a new addition to his wardrobe though. It had been Sarah's idea, and a questionable one at that, but he'd gone along with it anyway mostly for the fact that it was her idea in the first place: there was a hemp necklace laying snug against the base of his neck, with beads woven into it in what she had called the 'pride colors'. He rather liked it and when she'd told him what it meant, he had smiled and made sure to tie it snugly into place for all to see.

Kevin couldn't help grinning like a fool at the prospect of having Ed with him for a whole evening, plus that night. His mind jumped around from one idea to the next. He had to make this night count. He couldn't help noticing how tight Ed's jeans were, as well as the new addition to his outfit. He knew what those colors meant. The tight jeans gave him more thoughts than the necklace, however.

"You look nice, Ed." He'd wanted to put it differently, but every other way he ran over in his head sounded strange. "You want to go out to eat and maybe take a drive and do...something?" Kevin didn't know why it was so hard to talk about this stuff now. It should have been getting easier. "Or whatever you want to do, it's your night, man. I'm up for anything." He put one of his hands on one of Ed's.

Ed shrugged a little, looking down at his knees for a moment then glancing at the curtained window. He wanted to go out and do something active just to work off the spare energy that he always seemed to have, even more so after a decent night's sleep for the first time in a week or more.

He smiled widely and wrapped an arm companionably around Kevin's shoulders, dragging him over against his side. "Wanna take a swim?"

"Sound good to me." Kevin grinned at him. Their first swim in that outdoor pool had been a bonding experience. A very pleasant one until they were chased off. He leaned into Ed's embrace. He'd miss him a lot after he left, he knew that now. He would have to remember as much of tonight as possible until they met again. It could be four or more years until they would meet again. Depending on his career it could be a lot longer. He banished the gloomy thoughts from his head and stood up. 

"Let's get ready and head on to the pool then. I doubt anyone else will be there right now. There's a movie being shown on the quad tonight and I think it starts soon. I'd rather swim with you. I can rent a stupid flick anytime." He knew the free food being served would guarantee they'd be undisturbed. He opened a draw and pulled his swim trunks out. He'd dress properly this time, instead of just swimming in his boxers.

Ed smiled brightly and bounded off the bed, heading over to the dresser that still held all of his clothes that he'd brought to the college in the first place and digging through a top drawer nearly bulging with underpants and other things of that sort. When he started to undress to pull the trunks on he stopped, looking back over his shoulder at Kevin with the faintest blush, edging toward the bathroom as he pulled open the belt holding up his jeans.

When he returned he was standing in a pair of elderly tennis shoes and blue and red trunks hanging snug about his hips and a wrinkled but clean green towel across one shoulder.

"Ready when you are, Mister," Ed said cheerfully, smiling from ear to ear.

Kevin snickered when Ed went into the bathroom. He was happy that Ed could learn from his mistakes, even if he kind of wanted Ed to strip down in front of him. He pulled the black and green trunks on and picked up his phone to text Ciel their plan just as a precaution then picked up a towel just as Ed emerged from the bathroom. "I'm ready, Ed. Let's go." He returned the grin and the two headed out and towards the pool.

Ed occasionally let his hand brush against Kevin's as they walked, his smile growing until they spotted the high fence around the pool. He looked back in the direction of the quad, where more and more students were filing in until it looked as if the majority of the campus was there. Of course there would be some like them that would ditch the movie with the intent of going off-campus to have some unsupervised fun. When they were close enough to the pool and about to round the corner toward the gate he finally hooked his fingers around Kevin's tentatively.

Kevin held Ed's hand firmly when he felt the hesitation. He thought it was kind of cute how often he was the one that had to do that. Ed was so shy about this hand holding business and Kevin couldn't see the big deal about it. They both entered the gate and he shut it. As an added precaution he made sure to put the latch back down. The pool could not be seen into on any side but the gate and the gate didn't face the direction of any of the dorms. They weren't close enough to make out any of the sounds of the movie clearly, but sometimes they could hear the sound of the crowd cheering.

"Race you, Ed," Kevin yelled then put his phone down near the edge and leapt in the shallow end to begin swimming toward the other side.

Ed smiled faintly then followed right behind, laughing as he cannonballed into the water, sending up a small wave that overtook Kevin before Ed caught up with him. By the time they were halfway across the pool Ed had drawn level and just to slow him down, he'd wrapped his long arms around Kevin's middle and pulled him back. His feet barely touched the bottom of the pool where they were and he had to hold Kevin up a little higher to keep from dunking him. He chuckled quietly and held him for a few moments longer before slipping away and disappearing under the clear, chlorine-smelling water.

Kevin laughed when Ed grabbed him and leaned into the embrace. He had been about to turn and reciprocate the play when Ed let go. "Hey now, get back here!" Kevin hollered playfully after he had disappeared under the water. He took a deep breath and went under after him to try and see where he was going to come up. He knew Ed was playing a game and wanted to surprise him again and he wanted to see if he could get the advantage. He looked around a bit but then had to resurface after a few seconds being unable to spot him. _Man, he's fast..._ Kevin smirked and turned one way and then another knowing that he'd soon be "attacked."

Of course, Ed knew just how to stay in Kevin's blind spots, lurking just under and behind him and following every turn of his body. He rose up with water gluing his hair to his face, his arms out wide on either side, then pushed his feet against the side of the pool closest to them and succeeded in a sort of slow-motion tackle as Kevin heard him coming. The two of them floated a short distance before simply drifting until they bumped against the other side of the pool. Ed was still smiling his wide, somewhat absent-looking smile as he nudged his head against Kevin's playfully.

Kevin snickered as Ed's wet face rubbed against his own; he was glad Ed had shaved off that sharp stubble. He leaned his head away and wrapped an arm gently around the other's neck in order to apply a brief noogie with his free hand. "You're something else, you know that?" Kevin smiled at him before pressing a brief kiss to his forehead.

Ed's arms flailed a bit at the noogie but he grinned and leaned more heavily into Kevin then looked down between them with his forehead down against Kevin's the tips of their noses brushing. "Is that a good thing?"

"Yes," Kevin answered honestly. Frankly, he didn't want Ed to act any other way. He felt at ease, even with Ed teasing and playing with him in the water. Even with all his unpredictability. He pressed his lips to Ed's briefly. "I think it would be weird if you were serious all the time like me." He gripped Ed's cheek gently and gave it a playful pull. "You're fun to be around."

Ed rubbed his cheek and smiled widely with his lips touching lightly against Kevin's, his hands running down the lengths of the other's arms and gripping around his hands gently under the water even as the spot on his cheek bloomed pink from the slight abuse. He wrinkled his nose and bit on Kevin's lip, pulling it some then letting it go. "I'm glad you're starting to relax."

Kevin narrowed his eyes for a moment at the tug on his lip before smirking again when he let go. "I might be relaxing more but you still keep me on my toes." He teased the hair on Ed's chest with his fingers a little. "But I kind of like your little surprises." He breathed the last words into Ed's ear and nibbled the lobe a little.

"You're not really all that predictable yourself, mister," Ed shivered, his hands moving to Kevin's hips and holding him still for a moment before pulling him closer as the color rose in his cheeks. He pulled his head back just enough to look Kevin in the face before ducking down and began to nip and kiss at the other's neck in an attempt to copy what Kevin had been doing to him not even twenty-four hours ago.

Kevin couldn't help letting out a moan. It was so sudden he leaned his neck away for a split second before leaning back into the attention. "Heheh, I think I know what you're doing." He moved so that he was leaning against the edge of the pool, letting Ed have full access to his neck. "I don't know what you're talking about with me being unpredictable," he panted a bit, "I think you read me pretty well." He ran his hands across Ed's chest before beginning to tease his nipples with his thumbs. "Leave all the marks you want."

"Sometimes I can't tell what you're thinking at all..." Ed's breath huffed out quietly across Kevin's neck, his teeth digging in hard for just a moment then pulling back before he could hurt Kevin too badly. Already he was growing aroused, his front pushing into Kevin's inadvertently. His grip tightened down gently on the other's hips as he returned to his attentions. A small pattern of marks followed the path of his mouth down across Kevin's shoulder to his chest.

Eventually he just lifted Kevin up and seated him on the edge of the pool, looking up at him through slightly hazy, half-lidded eyes.

"I can throw you off, huh?" He ran a hand across Ed's face, panting and feeling rather warm after all the marks had been left on him. "I think you need to get out of the water, dude." He teased Ed under the chin then offered a hand to help him. He could still hear the noises of the movie in the background. "I think we can continue this out of the water," he remarked. He knew it must have been be either a double feature or one long movie. "Want to finish here or somewhere else?" he asked as he kissed across Ed's collarbone. "We can do it in the back seat of my car, I've got window covers. It isn't far from here." 

"I-I don't know..." Ed trailed off as he was drawn up, his arousal plain to see out of the water but weighed down by the water soaking his trunks. He swallowed hard and suppressed a shiver at the chill of the air on his dripping skin. He pressed forward into Kevin once more and gulped again before breathing in his ear. "What if someone sees the car moving?"

Kevin couldn't help laughing a little at the idea that the car would be seen moving. His mind wandered into the very activities they'd have to be engaged in to cause that kind of motion and it only served to make him harder. "Fine, Ed, if you're that worried about being found out, we'll go where Ciel and his group have been taking turns with their couples." He kissed on Ed's neck a little. "I'm just as nervous as you dude, but I understand that I don't have enough time for fear," he whispered and kissed Ed's forehead gently. "There is a back room in the little theater behind the stage that they use. We can even lock it from the inside."

Ed gulped audibly, the flush riding high in his cheeks like a sunburn as he tightened his grip on Kevin almost enough to bruise him. He swallowed down every comment about the possibilities of being heard, being found, caught in the act, laying his forehead against Kevin's now spotted shoulder. "Locked room...it's soundproof, isn't it?" He glanced up at Kevin then stood up straighter, his hips still socked securely into the other's, letting their erections grind slowly into one-another.

"You need me to beg one of them to stand guard or something?" Kevin teased, prodding Ed's navel. "Of course it's soundproof. It's a practice room to make sure they have their lines or songs down before they make their appearances while a show is going on. They use it all the time for their... extracurriculars," he breathed the last word into Ed's ear. "Now I need to know if you want me tonight or not, Ed." He ran a hand through Ed's wet hair. "If you aren't ready. I won't force the issue anymore." He kissed Ed briefly on the cheek. The heat in his groin disagreed but his mind and his heart told him to be patient. He would wait if he had to; he had enough confidence that there was something between them and that it would last until they met again.

Ed's words died in his throat as his arms slipped around Kevin's waist and pulled him forward, dipping his head and pressing his lips to the other's in a long, lingering kiss with just the smallest amount of tongue. He backed Kevin against the fence surrounding the pool and nudged against his forehead then dipped down and once more started to suck marks into Kevin's neck. "I wanna see..." and just what he wanted was made entirely evident as he rolled his hips sharply into the other's.

Kevin groaned out, "If you don't stop that for a second I'm going to let loose right here, Ed. Let's go." He retrieved his phone and led Ed by the hand into the theater without meeting anyone along the way. They entered silent theater, making their way along the dark center aisle to the backstage room and turned on the light. There was a large couch and several chairs, a rack of costumes against one wall and an assortment of Broadway show posters adorned the walls. The room smelled of incense. Kevin shut and locked the door behind them and switched on the dim lamps before turning off the brighter overhead lights.

"How are we going to do this?" He randomly opened a nearby drawer out of curiosity and turned his head to the side in wonder about how prepared these people were for this kind of thing. There were several open tubes of lube and a few condoms.

Ed peeked over his shoulder and once more blushed darkly at the stash inside, at the variety of condoms (everything from glow-in-the-dark to flavored) and lube in different-colored containers. He reached out and grabbed one with the familiar trojan head on it and looked at Kevin with uncharacteristic shyness. 'Foreplay' was a foreign word to him, but he was fairly sure they shouldn't just jump right into the main act.

With that thought, he laid a hand against Kevin's bare chest and turned him around, pressing him into the drawer as he dipped his head to capture the other's lips once more. His hands wandered slowly, fingertips tracing the lines of his ribs and the contours of lean muscle. "Make it up as we go," he suggested tentatively, almost as if he were asking permission.

"Fine by me." Kevin shuddered at the touches, so soft they almost tickled. He swallowed; even though he had been wanting this so badly, he couldn't help being nervous. He tried to gather his resolve as he began to explore Ed's body with his own hands. He wanted to remember every line, dip, bump, and crevice. He longed to know it all before they had to part. "I've never done anything like this before anyway." He returned the kiss and headed south, playing his lips across Ed's chest and making sure to gently tease both nipples with his tongue. By this point he didn't care which one of them "topped," he just want to enjoy as much of Ed as possible tonight. "You can take me if you want, Ed," he whispered and kissed the other male gently and explored Ed's mouth a little with his tongue.

The submissiveness, the pure sensuality of Kevin's ministrations and the sounds of his breathing sent almost painfully pleasant bolts straight to Ed's groin, his erection once more proud and grinding into Kevin's hip. He let out a quiet moan, biting his lip to keep himself quiet in spite of reminding himself that they were in a soundproof room, that nobody would hear them no matter their volume. He swiped his hands across Kevin's back and down to his backside, gripping gently then bending his knees enough to dip down, grab two handfuls of that lean, firm ass and lift Kevin off his feet and onto the top of the dresser.

He paused between bites and kisses over Kevin's mouth and neck, looking up in embarrassment as he realized that he wasn't entirely sure how to proceed from here. He knew more or less how people regardless of gender were supposed to lie together, but now that he was faced with it...he was flummoxed.

Whereas Ed held his noise in, Kevin voiced all of his as Ed ran his hands and mouth over his body. He was panting and his body was so ready, it almost hurt. He could see Ed's hesitation. He pressed his hands to the dresser and lifted himself completely up on it, then grabbed a container of lube from the drawer and applied a line to two of his fingers. He leaned back into the wall, and after applying a little to his rim, began to work his own fingers in. He panted and bit his lip as he stretched his entrance. 

Once he managed to get it as far along as he could he turned to the wall and got on his knees and spread his legs as wide as he thought he could manage and still keep his balance. "You'll have to do it the rest of the way, Ed," he said between breaths. "If I do anymore I think I'm going to go off early." He passed the container and pressed his hands to the wall. "Don't hold back."

Ed's blush flared as darkly as it had in the hospital when they'd first started getting so close and now, faced with Kevin's body so ready for him, all he wanted to do was look. He ran his hands up along the lines of Kevin's back to his shoulders, leaning forward and pressing his lips over tanned, smooth skin then lapping his tongue over a shoulderblade. He worked Kevin's trunks down completely away from his body and left them lying in a heap on the floor, his own soon joining them as he continued to worship that lean, muscular body until finally he ventured in one thick, blunt finger to stretch Kevin further.

As the warmth enveloped and almost seemed to pull him in further he started to move, pressing in to his last knuckle and stroking slowly against Kevin's insides before adding another finger, just barely scissoring them to stretch him until he could bring himself to press the head of his impressive length just barely inside.

"Kevin..."

Kevin felt like he was on fire when Ed stroked his prostate. He shuddered and pressed his hands to the wall harder to keep himself upright. "Fuck me," Kevin panted, "I want you to fuck me." The intrusion in his ass had been strange and uncomfortable at first, even painful, but he knew that if he could get past that part he was in for the time of his life. Or so he hoped. He only knew what he had read and watched and how he had felt when Ed had touched that tender bundle of nerves. He shivered a bit as Ed's hot breath touched his back.

Ed pushed in as slowly as possible, the tension in Kevin's body immediately sending him bad signals until he finally relaxed. He pushed in to the hilt after a little while longer and let an inarticulate sound, his head bowed and pressed between Kevin's shoulderblades. "Just tell me when..."

"Go ahead, dammit." Kevin panted. "I need you to do this now." Kevin looked back at Ed, slightly red in the face and sweating a little. His whole body was quivering with need. "Please," he whined, "I'll relax, just get into a rhythm."

Ed swallowed hard then started to move, slowly at first then picking up force and speed until the slap of skin was audible, quiet moans echoing around the room then growing louder, more heated and Ed was bent almost double over Kevin's back and swearing in his ear. Kevin swore right back as Ed began to find his pace. He moved his hips to meet Ed and to try and line the thrusts up with his sweet spot. He didn't care that Ed was leaning over him, he wanted as much contact as possible.

"I...I can't-" Ed groaned loudly, his body shivering as he held himself closer to Kevin, his hips moving wantonly and the sound of their skin magnified by the empty room's acoustics. He was close, so painfully close but he had to hold out, had to bring Kevin to his climax.

"Let it go," Kevin groaned and reached around to bring one of Ed's hands to his crotch. He'd been holding back for Ed and realized now he'd been doing the same for him. "Now!" he almost shouted, pressing both Ed's hand and his own into his groin and feeling himself coming to his peak. He gripped the dresser with his other hand to prevent himself from falling off of it.

Ed cried out as Kevin clenched around him, his hand spasming and pumping as his fingers laced between the other's and gripped down hard. His release was long, his vision blurred to nothing but white fog. It was like fire and ice all at once and his entire body locked up, freezing solid over Kevin's and holding the other against him as he filled him enough to send a trail of thick fluid down the inside of his thighs.

Kevin shivered at the waves of pleasure washed over him like a warm bath. He didn't even think about the liquid that was dripping from him. In fact he wasn't really thinking of anything at that moment. He stayed still until he could feel the sensations ebbing slowly away. He couldn't help chuckling a little as he turned himself over underneath Ed to sit on top of the dresser with his face against Ed's chest. "I think I'll remember that a while. Quite a ride." He pressed his lips to his lover's forehead and ran a hand across his mussed hair. "We can clean this up tomorrow. I think I only have enough energy to make it to that couch. I'm about ready to fall asleep right here and now."

"Couch...sleep," Ed agreed, his speech somewhat slurred as his head slipped down a little further against Kevin's chest, his eyes still closed as his legs, seemingly turned to jelly, wobbled at the idea of supporting his weight even that long. He pushed himself up nonetheless with his hands braced against the dresser, facing Kevin with the shine of sweat still coating his skin. He leaned up and pressed his lips to Kevin's softly before easing out of him, wincing as he heard the sound of his seed dripping to the floor. He wanted to clean it up, but that just seemed like too much work just then.

After righting himself about as much as he thought he could manage he took Kevin's hand, raising it to his lips for a moment then led him in a few steps to the couch that smelled as if it had been used for post-coitus sleep many times before.

Kevin followed suit as Ed half collapsed onto the couch. He would be half on top of the larger body, but that wasn't his idea of an unpleasant night. He didn't care at that moment that the couch smelt of stale sex and dried sweat. Either the professors of the department never came in here or didn't give a damn. Kevin didn't really care which it was. His ass still felt weird but he was too tired to care about the mess in the room and on as well as in and on his person. He cuddled into Ed and weakly reached up to pull a blanket hanging on the back over the two of them. He bit back the few little words he wanted to say that he knew would only make their separation that much more painful and decided simply to say a muffled goodnight into Ed.

When morning came it was far too soon, and the wake-up call came in the form of an insistent rapping on the door. Ed's eyes opened slowly and focused on the ceiling after a long while and he groaned, barely moving as his legs had fallen asleep under Kevin's weight. He looked down at the warm weight still tucked securely into his chest, smiling and lifting a hand to run his fingers through hair that admittedly needed a wash, but paused when the knocking came again and Ciel's voice drifted in to them, warning them that the hearing was in a few hours. There were no windows around the room and he couldn't see Kevin's phone anywhere, so he had no idea what time it was. It was just early in general.

Pulling the blanket up over his head, Ed grumbled and nuzzled into Kevin once more with his arms securely around the other's waist.

Kevin groaned softly at the insistent sound at the door. For a moment he couldn't remember where he was, but then the warm body he was snuggled into and the realization that his ass was sore brought it all back. He knew his phone was under his swim trunks and they were out of reach. "Quit knocking, dude. I hear you, damn," Kevin yelled groggily toward the door. He opened his eyes as he wrapped his own body around Ed's. "You're going to need a shower." He ran a hand through Ed's disheveled hair. "But I think we can lay here a few minutes more, as long as you don't shut your eyes." He wanted to hold and be held by Ed just a little longer.

"You too," Ed yawned but still couldn't bring himself to move. He laid the side of his head against the back of the couch and concentrated on the person in his arms, pulling him up gently until Kevin was resting against him and lying in his lap comfortably (or at least as comfortably as they could manage when they were practically glued together). He looked up at the door at the huffy-sounding voice, then blinked when he heard the rattle of keys in the doorhandle.

Ciel's set of spare keys to the room worked as they always did when he was acting as facilitator to his group and he quickly shut the door behind him as he looked over at the still-dozing tangle of limbs on the couch.

"Shit!" Kevin yelled and was going to jump up with the blanket but then realized he had no idea whether Ed had anything on and just sat up. "Throw me my fucking shorts and we'll get up, jeez man." 

"You know you don't want him to be late, honey." Ciel winked and threw Kevin's as well as Ed's shorts as asked, deciding against teasing the two any further by making them come and get their clothes. "You were a bit rude to leave such a mess though." Ciel was shaking a little trying not to burst out laughing at the sight of the dried cum on the dresser. Everyone else apparently knew to cover it with a towel or something. "I'll clean that up for you this time, but I don't want to see it again." He covered his mouth with his hand to stop the giggles that were itching to escape. The pair had definitely marked their territory during their romp.

Kevin just grunted something that sounded like thanks and pulled his swim trunks on. He felt like hitting Ciel for teasing him, though that was really nothing new. He knew they didn't have a lot of time and besides, he did owe the guy for all he'd done for them lately. "Ready to head back to the room, Ed?" Kevin winced as he realized just how sore he was. Sitting was going to be tricky for at least a day. He scowled when he heard Ciel actually giggling at him.

Ed was once more blushing furiously as he listened to the two of them, glancing over at the spots of his cum on the floor and Kevin's splattered across the dresser, wiped away with some difficulty by Ciel after how long they'd let it sit there. He pulled on his shorts when he was sure Ciel was distracted with giving Kevin a hard time, then looked at the cell phone and groaned at the time. They would have time for showers, but little else before the hearing and quite frankly, Ed just didn't want to do it. He'd never really thought much about public humiliation but being in front of the college and having his brief habit exposed to an audience that he knew would consist of the frat, everyone affiliated with the frat, and a lot of hangers-on with nothing better to do, in addition to the school board...it left a bad taste in his mouth and a cold lump of dread in his stomach.

Nodding and taking Kevin's hand, Ed tried to compose himself and ignore that they still smelled like sex as they headed for the door.

Kevin could see the dread in Ed's face as they exited the theater and headed back to the dorm. He was glad they met no one on the way there or on the way up to their room. Ed tried to let go of his hand but Kevin grabbed it again and pulled him into the bathroom with him. "This will save some us time," he said as he shut the door behind them and turned the water on.

Ed's eyes widened slightly as he realized what Kevin was doing, but he didn't move away, or even think about doing so. He glanced around the familiar bathroom then slowly stripped back out of his swim trunks and tossed them out into the bedroom before turning back to Kevin and just observing the way he moved.

"Sorry for making it hurt," he said awkwardly and ran his hand back through his hair, scratching at the nape of his neck. He glanced at the trail of fading hickies along Kevin's neck and shoulder, smiling faintly and looking back down at the floor.

"Don't worry about that, I want the feeling to last." Kevin swallowed the lump in his throat and he let his own shorts drop to the floor and stepped into the shower. Their parting was going to hurt a lot more than his ass and he would rather Ed had made him bleed last night if it had meant he could stay. "I don't care if I can never sit right again, Ed. I wouldn't take back last night for anything." He reached a hand out for Ed. He wanted to spend every moment he could with Ed between now and when he had to leave.

Ed took the offered hand and stepped into the stall, pulling the curtain shut behind him then automatically draping his arms around Kevin's waist as he dropped his head to lean against Kevin's. He wanted to say something along the lines of looking forward to the next time they could do it but just now, he knew they had to relax before the hearing, clean themselves off and try to look halfway presentable. He wanted to say a lot more than just the thanks that left his lips as he leaned down to murmur in Kevin's ear, but it was already going to be hard to let him go when it was all over. He couldn't bring himself to complicate their life, make their relationship any harder than it was.

Kevin wanted to cling to Ed and never let go when he embraced him suddenly, but he held back the urge and grabbed his shampoo. He squirted a bit into his hand and lathered Ed's head first before getting more for his own and passing Ed the soap. He felt a growing ache in his stomach the longer Ed held him. He just knew after Ed left he was going to fucking cry if he didn't get a hold of himself. For now he was just going to have to be strong and focus on the task at hand and the hearing. He lathered his own more abundant hair and thought about how hard it was going to be to sit there and go through this crap again. He doubted it would be like his own audiences where he had had to tell the whole story. This was probably going to be more about what Ed had done after the hazing had taken place.

Closing his eyes to keep the soap out of them, Ed reluctantly released Kevin to scrub the gel and chlorine out of his hair then eased around him into the spray to rinse the suds from his hair. He slicked it back away from his face with his hands then turned to face Kevin, taking the soap and rubbing it between his hands before starting in slow sweeps to scrub the remnants of sweat and cum from the other's body. He dipped down every now and then to pepper Kevin's shoulders with light kisses, just trying to ease the tension and improve Kevin's mood, though he could tell it wasn't going to work much.

The weight of the hearing was growing the closer it came and by the time they'd rinsed off and removed themselves from the water, they only had a half hour to dress and make their way to the school's newer, bigger auditorium.

Kevin had gotten into one of his best white button down shirts and black dress pants and shoes. He put his hair up and gelled his bangs back. He helped Ed pick out his best clothes. "If they won't let me sit with you I'll get one behind you even if I have to make some dumb bastard stand up." He pulled out his cologne and dabbed a little on both his and Ed's necks and ran his comb over Ed's hair. "You look nice. Are you ready to head that way now? It isn't too far but we don't want to take any chances."

Ed just let Kevin fuss over him for awhile longer then pulled at the hem of his shirt, wringing it a little between his hands then shaking his hair out so it lay a little more naturally, his cowlick making part of his bangs stand up. He ran his hands back through his hair instead and let it all stick up then shook his head again to get it to lay better. He gave Kevin a nervous smile then nodded toward the door. "Let's go."

"One final thing." Kevin pulled Ed down to him and gave him one long kiss and let go. "You'll be fine. The worst the board'll do is kick you out. Ignore the crowd of dumbasses, they don't matter. I'm there for you, remember that." He took Ed's hand and interlaced his fingers firmly and led him toward the door, fully intending to hold it the entire way there and maybe even to getting Ed seated.

Ed's palm was already sweating as he held Kevin's hand tightly in his own, his heart starting to thud against his ribcage as they walked across the campus, completely open in spite of the shouts they could hear every now and then. People were still trickling into the hall as they entered and while some continued to make a scene about the two of them, others offered small, encouraging smiles or thumbs-ups. A lot of them just stared or made faces and Ed could tell just what they were thinking. It made him sick to his stomach.

He was made to stand in front of the board, with Kevin in a seat behind him in the front row. The twins, James, Dee and Ciel's little clan were arranged all around him. They were all dead silent, just watching and waiting.

Ed's 'crimes' were listed in cold, technical terms until everyone knew for sure what had happened. Pot, morphine, bad judgments on his part as well as a few others' (they wouldn't be pointed out, but everyone knew more or less who the 'others' were). Ed never denied any of it, only standing and listening and turning a faint red as the crowd behind him made a disappointed racket until they were silenced by one of the men passing down judgment.

Kevin had ignored every word and every look as they walked to the hearing. He didn't give a shit; Ed would have to leave campus soon. He knew he had to get used to it anyway since the whole damn school already knew what happened in the woods. When they entered Kevin had spotted Tina in the crowd but did not look her way. He didn't give a shit how she felt about any of this. All that mattered to him right now was getting Ed through this as quickly as possible. 

He made no motion to attempt to stay with Ed when he spotted that he would be standing before the board. He took the seat in the front that Ciel had saved for him after making sure Ed made it the rest of the way. He was surprised to not only see that Dee and the twins had shown up and not sat in the back, but also that Ciel and his group were not in their day costumes. They rarely ever showed their true colors during the day like this. Ciel gave him a small, encouraging smile before they both turned forward to see what the board had to say. Kevin hardly listened to them as Ed's crimes were listed; he spent most of the time watching Ed and ignoring the crowd.

Ed seemed to shrink slowly on the spot as he was told that he would be made to leave the campus that afternoon. He had known that it would happen, but it didn't make it any better when half the crowd started clapping while the other half boo'd the decision until they were all silenced once more. He looked back up and quietly thanked the board for their decision then made to step down and join his parents, who had shown up just after he had and stood off to one side just listening in silence. Sarah had come very close to shrieking at them all to shut their whore mouths but her mother had had the presence of mind to put a hand over her mouth until she calmed down.

The look on Ed's face was obscured as Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and rocked him. The rest of the crowd finally realized the spectacle was over and were starting to flood toward the doors.

The hollow feeling in Kevin's stomach became much worse when they made the decision that Ed would have to leave that day. Kevin didn't even hear the crowd he was so lost in thought. His heart was pounding and he shut his eyes for a brief moment. He wanted to punch someone in the face or curl up on the floor. He felt like he was bound to the seat even though it was all over. He'd known it was coming, but he still wasn't prepared for it.

He watched Sarah and the rest of the family come over as the board members left and the crowd began to leave. He swallowed, trying to take away the dryness in his mouth. Ciel gripped his left wrist and helped him stand up. He and a few others in the group were watching Kevin with concern now. He shook his head at them and started to make his way towards Ed and his family, knowing that soon Ed would have to say goodbye.

When Ed pulled away from Sarah he looked incredibly sad and tired. His mother doted on him and fussed in the hopes it would drag him back into his usual slightly flailing demeanor but what was done was done and it didn't feel like anything would shake him out of this funk. Only when he heard Kevin approaching behind him did he turn, his mouth barely twitching as he reached out and took Kevin's hand gingerly.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to find a new school," he said with a small, strange smile as his eyes began to shine slightly.

"Yeah, sure looks that way." Kevin forced himself to smile and hold back his own tears. He'd cry later, he knew it, but Ed didn't need to see that now. "I guess we'll have to get you packed now and ready to head on out." Kevin tightened his grip on Ed's hand. One of them had to be the strong one. Kevin wanted to hug him, but he knew he better not right now. Ed would probably break down completely if he did.

Ed just followed behind his family with his head down, holding onto Kevin's hand with near crushing force as they trooped back toward the dorm. His dad's truck was sitting in the parking lot a few spaces away from Kevin's car, looking out-of-place with its dingy blue paint job next to all the shiny new models. The leaden feeling in Ed's stomach had long since been replaced by an aching sadness that made him want to curl up in his bed and hide there until the Second Coming.

He wouldn't even be able to go to school until the next semester. That would mean an even longer separation and by the time they saw eachother again, who knew what either of them would be doing...who they would be with...

Ed closed his eyes and put his head down against the bedroom wall at then, giving a quiet, slightly hitching breath before kneeling and starting to collect his wide assortment of belongings from their places scattered across, and occasionally stuck to, the floor. Kevin pulled the folded boxes Double Dee had so carefully prepared for Ed to move in with from the closet. Neither of them had even had a chance to throw out their moving boxes if they were in too bad of shape from travel. Kevin couldn't even remember how briefly they'd been here. It couldn't be much longer than two weeks. He switched a few of the worst boxes for a few of his own, and after getting them back into shape, began to help Ed pack. 

He came across his slightly battered red hat on the floor and placed it backwards on Ed's head as he continued to pack. He really wanted Ed to keep it, even if they weren't going to see each other again soon, if ever. "I'll stay here, Ed, and do my best since you can't. I'm probably moving into the one of the lofts soon though. The school doesn't think I'm safe in the frat house now even with the suspensions." Kevin knew he had to keep talking like everything was alright and normal. He had to keep his voice neutral and not let just how much it hurt show. "I'm still on the team. I'm not quitting just because everyone thinks coach is too afraid to cut me." He had begun to gather Ed's comics and stack them carefully into a box. He came across Ed's familiar green jacket and walked over to hang it on Ed's shoulders. "You'll be okay, Ed. I know you will."

Listening to Kevin chatter, Ed couldn't decide whether to just break down or try and chat right back. He didn't exactly trust himself to speak though, especially when the hat and jacket were put on him. He turned to Kevin, taking the green jacket off his shoulders and shaking it out then walking around Kevin and putting it on him.

"If I get to keep your hat, you can hold on to this," he said then straightened the material across the smaller boy's shoulders, his hands running over it then down the lengths of his arms. He leaned forward with his chest against Kevin's back, his head bowed. "I haven't been completely barred from the campus so maybe...if I have time, I can drop by on a weekend..."

Kevin swallowed when Ed draped the jacket on him and tried to speak, tears trying to form in his eyes. He squeezed them shut and leaned back against Ed. "I'd like that. I'll see about the holidays and summer if you stick around home, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to or not. I...I think I need to tell my folks what happened. I don't want them finding out some other way and they are bound to at least hear about me from other students if they come to the first game."

He turned to face Ed, having managed to fight back the urge to cry again. "Let's get you packed before Sarah comes in and makes a crack about having us wanting one more mushy moment alone or something."

"But I like being mushy with you," Ed pouted, then smiled faintly as his forehead was kissed. He laid his hands on either side of Kevin's jaw and leaned down to give him a kiss but froze at the sound of a throat being cleared in the doorway. His hands sprang up on either side and he looked back at the smirking girl in the entryway to the room he'd previously shared with Kevin.

After watching the two of them scrubbing at their faces to get rid of whatever inadvertent tears might have fallen, Sarah rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Come on, dad's getting impatient and I have to pick up Jimmy from his party thing in a few hours." She tapped her foot impatiently to make her point.

Kevin helped Ed box up the last of his things and carry out the boxes. They stood in the room for a moment, making sure Ed had taken everything that was his. A last check of the room and they found nothing else. "I guess this is good bye...for now." Kevin rubbed the back of his neck a little. "Take it easy if you can. Don't let Eddy boss you around too much if he comes to see you. I'll try and come home for Christmas if dad doesn't disown me and if I can make it with whatever goes on here with school and stuff. I might try and take summer classes to get out quicker. The football season will keep me pretty busy but I want to try and see you, if I can get some time."

Sarah refrained from making them split any sooner than necessary in spite of her assertions that they needed to go already. Ed's hands laced through Kevin's hair and pulled his head back, his eyes darting to the door to make sure it was unoccupied before plunging his tongue into Kevin's mouth, kissing him with the passion that he hadn't dared before, only pulling back out of a dire need for oxygen. He stared down at Kevin then drew away, sweeping his hair back under the hat that had replaced his jacket as his most important piece of clothing. He cleared his throat then nodded a little.

"I have your number and you have mine, right? If nothing else we can at least talk..."

Kevin blushed at Ed's show of enthusiasm and he didn't care that he did. "Yeah, we can do that," he panted. The painful ache in his stomach had been replaced with that familiar fluttering sensation. He followed the two outside when they were certain they had absolutely everything and watched Ed get into the truck with Sarah. He hoped that they would meet again sooner rather than later, but he knew that although it was not a vast distance between here and Peach Creek, it wasn't that close either. Long-distance was not going to be easy. He lifted his arm to wave goodbye as the truck pulled out, clutching the green jacket with his other arm.

Ed watched out the windshield until they'd turned a corner, then slumped down in his seat beside his sister in the back seat of the truck, wedged with his knees up level with his chin. He pulled the baseball cap off his head and held it against his chest with one tear just clinging to the end of his nose, until Sarah wrapped an arm around his shoulders and nudged his head with hers. He broke down slowly, quietly, with his forehead down against his sister's shoulder. It wasn't fair. None of this was. He said as much to Sarah, to which she said that nothing was fair. He knew what she meant and so fell silent until they were able to get home.

He kept his belongings in his boxes, knowing he would most likely be moving to a further school anyway. He had enough money to get into another school, a less prestigious school, and his parents were letting him decide where he wanted to go. Sarah helped with the decision of course, she always did with this kind of thing, and by the time they decided where Ed should go to achieve his original goal, Ed was depressed enough to take any option he could get.

\--

Kevin held the jacket close to his chest after Ed disappeared from sight. He felt the tears coming now and he headed quickly into the dorm. He shut and locked the door and pressed his face to the green fabric as he curled up on the bed. He stayed that way, crying silently until he felt that if he didn't stop he was going to be sick.

He got up and stripped down in the bathroom and stepped into the tub. He pressed his face to the wall of the shower as he washed away his shame at such a display of emotion but it didn't make the hollow feeling go away. This was going to be hard.

As he dried off he heard his phone go off. He picked it up quickly and saw that it was a text from Ciel and he was asking him to come out to dinner with the group tonight, to make sure he ate. Kevin groaned but he knew that they'd all come and drag him out if he didn't go. They probably had him on their own version of suicide watch or something. After redressing he considered putting Ed's jacket on, but he decided against it and simply tucked it under his pillow, carefully folded.

When Kevin appeared, James and Dee came to his left side while Ciel took up a position at his right, walking with him and making small talk but never bringing up the subject of Ed. As far as they were concerned, Kevin was the priority and they knew Ed and cared about him enough to at least make sure that Kevin made it out of college alive. They would watch him basically kill himself with work over the next four years, accelerating through the programs at almost twice the regular pace to become the trainer that he'd encouraged Ed to be in the first place.

Ed himself called every so often, but his schedule was so crammed with his new studies and his job on the side that he could never catch Kevin during the day and at night he was either working, or dead asleep. Making friends at the new school was almost pointless. He'd met a few that enjoyed the same things he did, but he never stayed still. He always had something 'incredibly important' to work on. "I have to do it," he always said whenever someone asked him why he worked so hard. "I have to."

When he graduated after five years, with honors and a degree in sports medicine, he took his diploma and stared at the little roll of paper for a long moment. On the stage, in front of everyone in his graduating class, Ed let out what sounded like a victory roar with his diploma held high over his head.


	5. Playing Ketchup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that spelling is intentional.

Kevin had had a rough four years getting his degree, as well as going so far as to add enough courses to also teach Physical Education up to the high school level if he wanted. He had thrown himself into his studies as well as his place on the team. He spent his free time either studying or training but on weekends he ended up being dragged by Ciel and his group to places to have fun. After Ciel left, Kevin took a more active role in the tight-knit group trying to prevent what happened to him and Ed from happening again.

He had found a job as a trainer after college after getting his knee injured just when it looked like he had a place in the pros. It wasn't a debilitating one, but he knew it was better not to play again and risk aggravating it more than necessary and making his day-to-day life hell. He hadn't really felt like it was his calling anyway.

He wished he could have gone back to Peach Creek to see where Ed was now but he had to move to where his new position was. He had just moved into his new apartment and some stuff was even still in boxes. His TV had just been set up and he decided he just wanted to see a bit of the city and maybe watch a movie. He hated unpacking anyway.

He browsed the shelves of the movie store slowly in the search for something that he could kill time with when he went home. He was taller than he once was and still wore his hair long but kept himself clean shaven. He had a hard time growing enough facial hair for it to be worth it anyway. He wore a familiar green jacket since it was a bit cold that night as walked into the horror section without realizing it. He sighed when he saw the collection of old monster movies nearby.

Standing and browsing the movies was a small assortment of people, ranging from a pair of younger kids intent on finding the goriest movie possible to a little old lady squinting at a black and white Hitchcock title on the opposite shelf. Standing with his back to Kevin an impossibly tall young man was flipping over case after case and loading a stack in his arm until it was up to his shoulder. He was steadily growing closer to Kevin's position, but he was too engrossed in the movies in front of him. Perched on his head was a slightly abused, faded red baseball cap, obviously well-worn and washed several times over.

Kevin stood back up as he picked a movie from the shelves and read the back of it. It was definitely a B movie alright: low budget effects but lots of them. He spotted the red cap out of the corner of his eye as he picked out a more recent title to check the back blurb and noticed the very tall man near him. Kevin couldn't remember his own height at the moment but knew he was a little over six feet tall. This guy had to be seven. He shook the sense of familiarity out of mind and dismissed the hat as one of many mass produced ball caps. He held the jacket close to him for a moment, trying to shake the memories, when his text ringer went off; he hadn't changed it since he had bought the phone over six years ago. "Damn, just a junk text," he muttered and deleted it.

The movies nearly toppled out of the behemoth's hands at the sound of the cell phone going off. He turned quickly after righting the stack and frowned a bit at the young man grumbling at his phone, stepping toward him after a moment then taking off the red cap and letting it dangle from his fingers.

The world seemed to slow down as he circled around enough to get a good look at the other man's face.

"Kevin...?"

Kevin almost fumbled movie and phone at the sound of his name. He put the movie back quickly after catching his phone before it hit the ground and stared up at the larger male before him. "Ed?" He felt his heart quicken as he looked the now much larger male in the face. He suppressed the urge to yell or hug him right there in the store. He couldn't believe he'd found him like this in such a large city.

Ed just stared down at him for a long time, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open. He'd thought that by now Kevin might have forgotten him, or that he would live somewhere a long way away. He always had seemed like the kind to completely ditch his old neighborhood for bigger, better things than just a small community, or even a city like this. He eventually forced himself to shut his mouth, swallowing hard then adjusting how the movies sat in his arms.

"You look...you look really good," Ed commented, a crooked smile pulling at the corner of his lips. He looked a good deal older, much more mature than he had the last time Kevin had seen him. In six years' time he'd lost some of his muscle mass but of course had made up for that with his height. His hair was down to his shoulders, tied back in a tight ponytail that kept it out of his face. His jaw was edged with ginger stubble, but rather than making him look shabby, it seemed to fill his face out and pronounce his jaw where previously it didn't really look like he had much of one. From his left ear shone a gold (or at least it looked like gold) ring and around his neck, just as it was the last time they'd seen one-another, that hemp necklace with its rainbow beads was just visible between the collar of his shirt, a light blue open-throated polo.

"Thanks. You... You got huge, man." Kevin couldn't think of any other way of putting it at the moment. He was too excited just seeing Ed again. Kevin hadn't changed much in six years, other than getting a little taller and showing some of the stress of the past few years in his face especially around his eyes. He still kept himself at a lean build and dressed simply as ever. "How have you been? You living around here?" He had so many questions for Ed now.

"Yeah, I found myself a little loft apartment a few blocks up...What about you? Do you live in the area?" The hopeful look on Ed's face seemed to rewind his age considerably until he looked just as he had in college just for a moment. He started to bounce a little on the balls of his feet, looking around at the other people in the store. He knew how conspicuous he was, at seven feet tall with bright red hair and a stack of movies a foot high. If he were to take Kevin and force him back against the nearest movie rack of course someone would notice. Instead he scratched a little at the back of his head, glancing back down at the movies in his hand then back at Kevin. "If you have time, feel like watching some of these with me? I mean I know you probably don't care much for Slime Slingers 3 but..." Ed looked back down at the floor shyly, shuffling a little in place.

"I've just moved into an apartment a few blocks that way. I had to move here for a job." Kevin motioned his head in the direction he had driven from. He could see the eagerness in Ed's eyes and smiled up at the man towering over him. "After some of the stuff I watched with Rolf, I'm willing to check out anything once." He paused for a moment, remembering all the stuff he hadn't unpacked.

"My place or yours? I'm not really settled in yet though." Kevin rubbed the back of his neck a little. He felt like a weight had fallen away from him. Ed looked like he was doing pretty well. "We can watch some movies and catch up. It's been six years now, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," Ed nodded then edged a little closer and reached out a hand gingerly, hooking his fingers around Kevin's loosely. "I missed you," he murmured then shrugged a little. "I just got a nice tv for my place...One of the LCD things. Since you don't have your stuff all sorted out yet we can watch the movie at my place then I can help you with your stuff later."

Kevin gripped his hand firmly for a moment. "I've missed you too and that sounds fine to me. I'll follow you in my car. I've still got the same one actually." He let go of Ed's hand as he saw someone heading for their aisle. "Want me to carry some of those?" Kevin watched the precarious stack with a little apprehension. "You don't have to help me unpack. I know how much of a pain it always is and I don't even know how the hell I want to arrange it or anything. Dorm rooms were one thing, but having my own place seems weird somehow."

Ed shook his head at Kevin's offer then chuckled quietly. "Yeah, I remember how long it took you to actually get all of your stuff out of boxes at the dorm. You were still fishing junk out when I was there." He held the movies a little closer to himself and headed for the counter. "Let me just get these and we can head out then."

After the stack of movies was handed back over and bagged, Ed looked back over his shoulder at Kevin. He offered a small smile and headed out toward the lot, where he pulled open the door of an elderly little camaro that looked as if it'd been refurbished with a new body kit.

"Well I never should have unpacked any of it since I had to move to a new dorm about a week later. Then I only unpacked because Ciel and those asses kept making fun of me." Kevin looked the car over a bit. "Not a bad job. If you have any trouble out of it I'll take a look at it, I still service my own." He stepped over to the green car and opened the door. "I'll just follow after you but don't tear out of here, I don't know my way around yet." Kevin smiled playfully at Ed knowing the other had no intention of losing him to something as mundane as traffic. Kevin wasn't going to let Ed out of his sight if he could help it.

Ed smiled a little as he got behind the wheel and started the engine with a dull roar, the tailpipe letting out a cloud of bluish exhaust. He pulled out of the lot slowly and kept one eye on the rearview mirror and Kevin's little green car. He went on ahead and pulled into traffic then led him down a fairly straight shot and a single left turn to bring them both to the parking lot to one side of a large red brick building. He killed the engine and waited until Kevin had driven in beside him.

"First I got something to show you," Ed grinned as Kevin joined him, taking his hand and starting to drag him to an apartment building across the way. He stopped in front of the building's mailboxes and pointed out the names of his two best friends. Apparently, Eddward and Eddy lived in the same apartment. And Double D had taken Eddy's last name. Ed was smiling as he looked back at Kevin.

"Finally became the old married couple they acted like, huh? I'd have loved to hear the argument they probably had about the name change. I know Double Dee had to have taken offense if Eddy even hinted he was making him his little woman," Kevin said and smiled. He knew better than to make the remark about their chances of getting interrupted while _catching up_. He shook it off though. There was no guarantee they'd get physically reacquainted, he still couldn't be sure if Ed had met anyone else yet or not. Sure he still kept the hat on, but it might just be because he now lacked his jacket or it could even be because things between them weren't finalized. He shoved all this aside knowing Ed would notice if he started frowning and scowling and would want to know what was bugging him.

"I'm not too far from here. Another street over, that white building with the parking deck. I'm up on the fifth floor. It isn't very big, but I didn't need much room." 

"Yeah, me neither," Ed shrugged then looked over at the building next to the one beside which they'd parked. He looked around once more then took Kevin's hand, mostly just to urge him across the street that much more quickly. The sun was just starting to dip below the horizon. The community he'd chosen to settle in over the last year had proven to be more or less safe for couples like Double D and Eddy, so he knew he'd be even safer given his size. "Good thing you live nearby. We can just walk over to your building and take care of your unpacking without having to spend any on gas. Did you see the prices at the station on the corner? Jeez..."

Ed continued to chatter, leading Kevin along without really giving him a chance to get a word in edgewise.

"Yeah, it is getting pretty bad. I can actually walk to work from my place though so I'm not worried about gas too much," Kevin said after they reached the door and Ed stopped talking to pull out his keys and unlock it. He hadn't tried too hard to break thorough the chatter; just hearing Ed just speak was making him pretty happy. "Let me hold those while you unlock the door, man. I'm no weakling just because you're about a foot taller," Kevin chuckled and reached for the bags.

"Yeah, the gas is why I got a bike instead. But I don't have a way to carry a lot of movies on my bike so...yeah. And no, you're no weakling, you're just tiny." Ed opened the door with a small key on a ring crammed with them in all sizes. When he opened the door the first thing noticeable was how very dark the place was. The second was the glow across one wall. As he led Kevin inside he flipped on a few dim lamps, throwing the room into a mellow golden light and one wall was revealed to be completely obscured by computer towers and multiple monitors. At the look on Kevin's face Ed chuckled a little and rubbed the back of his neck. "I kind of picked up gaming after college," he explained. He headed for the kitchen and the thermostat mounted against the wall to turn down the temperature. It was already pretty chilly in the apartment but the hardware making a quiet white-noise kind of hum was raising the temperature of the room by several degrees.

"I can see that. You ever do much else?" He gently elbowed Ed in the side when he returned from the thermostat. Kevin never liked being a guest anywhere; he was never sure how to act on the first visit. He knew Ed probably had little social life outside his apartment with a setup like that. He wouldn't rule out an online fling yet. "I never really had time for much gaming. Practice and studying and everything else ate my time up. Ciel and them kept dragging me off to do stuff on weekends I didn't have practice too. After graduating, training camp ate up even more time and then... well I hurt my knee and here I am. It doesn't bother me most of the time but a lot of running and squatting like during a game would aggravate it. I can still do my morning run no problem but I try not to push it by doing squat thrusts or shit like that."

"My job's kind of on a commission basis but it pays well enough to keep me in this apartment and my electric paid. School's done with and I paid off my loans early on. I keep a set schedule for my personal training so I don't turn into a little skinny Double D." Ed turned back from the computers then draped an arm around Kevin's shoulders and leaning on him gently. He considered telling about the brief relationship he'd had a couple years after he'd gone to the other college, but he didn't want to potentially make their first night seeing one another again awkward. Instead he smiled and tugged a little on the jacket that Kevin was still wearing. "Thanks for taking care of this..."

"You're welcome," Kevin said quietly and leaned into Ed. He was little embarrassed to be caught wearing it, but it had actually become his go-to light jacket. He wasn't going to tell Ed he'd slept with it in his bed for the first three months of their separation. He also wouldn't be bringing up the guy he'd fooled around with his senior year for a few weeks. He knew it was best they focus on now since there had been no agreement not to see anyone else. "There's no way you'll get scrawny as Double Dee. You're too big now.

"I see you've still got that old hat. I would have thought it might have fallen apart by now. I can't remember when I got it but it was before junior high. I don't miss the hat hair now." Kevin glanced at Ed's longer locks, passing a hand over them. "You grew yours out. Looks good. So, you wanna watch that movie now or just sit down and catch up?" Kevin wrapped his arm around the taller man, pulling himself closer. He didn't care if they watched it or not, he'd spend time with Ed movie or no movie. 

"I like my hair longer," Ed nodded with a small smile, pulling the tie out of his hair and letting it fall around his face in a wavy red curtain. He smiled more widely and shook it back enough to look out at Kevin with one eye, then used his fingers to comb it back behind his ears. He glanced over at the couch sitting against the wall opposite the rather modest entertainment center and the decently-sized flatscreen thereon. Removing himself from Kevin reluctantly, Ed flopped down onto the squishy bluish-black cushions and just seemed to sink in until he reached out to Kevin with a playful sort of pout.

"I like it too." Kevin smiled and joined Ed. The couch was pretty comfortable. "You forgot to put in the movie, dude." He chuckled and leaned against the larger man. "Doesn't matter to me though, we can just catch up if you don't want to get up and put it in." He played with Ed's hair a little. "You might look a little different, but I don't think you've changed too much and that's not a bad thing." 

"Hush, you," Ed laughed then smiled warmly and leaned his head into Kevn's touch. He leaned back into the couch with an arm around Kevin's shoulders, looking over at the black screen thoughtfully. "Yeah, we can catch up a little. Then see about some popcorn maybe to go with the movie."

"You wanna talk about what you got up to since we last talked or..." Kevin nuzzled his face into Ed's neck. "You wanna catch up?" Being in such close quarters was making Kevin think about the first and last time they had messed around and made him want to see if they could repeat past deeds any time soon. "Anything else get bigger?" he whispered in Ed's ear, teasing. 

Immediately Ed flushed, being much quicker on the uptake than he had once been. He swatted Kevin's arm then nuzzled against the side of his head. "Is that really all you're concerned about after this long?" he teased right back then, just to make Kevin twitch, he bit on the top of his ear gently.

Kevin shuddered at the nip and only leaned in closer. "No, but I can't help but remember that one night." He laid his head against Ed's shoulder. "I haven't really been in anything serious since then, at least how we were seemed more serious somehow." He knew this would get awkward fast if he continued down that road so he quickly changed the subject. "I'm glad you found a school to take you in. I can't say I'll miss mine all that much. I can't say I didn't have any fun, but I was busy almost the whole time."

Ed would have liked to think they'd been serious at least, but he, like Kevin, wanted to avoid making things any more awkward if he could help it. He looked off to one side to try and compose his thoughts, then leaned down and nudged his head against Kevin's. "I'm glad you survived. Ciel and his friends took care of you then..."

"It never got as bad as I thought it would. I got a lot of verbal crap, but no one ever jumped me. Didn't help that Ciel kept finding excuses to walk me to class. I think the bastard was trying to figure me out, or figure out what you saw in me." Kevin shook off the memories of the whispers and the dirty looks. 

"I kind of took his position in that little group after he graduated; he might have been trying to put me there actually." Kevin frowned. "Practice was the worst. Even when the new group came in the old told the stories. I never gave them an excuse to think I got special treatment though. I made sure of that. I hated the showers in the locker rooms. I always felt like one of them would pull some shit in there." 

"Just as long as you didn't drop the soap," Ed commented off-hand, then mentally facepalmed. That had been in really bad taste. The change in Kevin's demeanor prompted Ed to wrap his arm more securely around Kevin's shoulders, squeezing him gently. "At least now you don't have to put up with them anymore, right? And you're doing what you want now instead of going with what your dad wanted you to do...that should count for something. And you're here..." Ed tickled his fingers up the back of Kevin's hand lightly then just laid his palm over the smaller man's. "With me."

"Yeah, I'm doing whatever the hell I want now." He nipped Ed's ear for the cheeky remark and the chills the contact had created. "I don't let anyone else bend me over." He paused for a moment. "Dad and I don't talk much. I haven't seen him in years actually. I've seen mom though, she's fine with it. How's everyone in your family doing these days?" He changed the subject quickly. He really didn't want to think about the last time he'd had it out with his old man.

Ed chuckled and shrugged his shoulder a little at the tickling around his ear. He looked down at the comment about Kevin's dad; he'd known that it would probably end that way, Kevin's father was such a hard-ass and of course he would be close-minded about his only son. He shook his head a little and laced his fingers between Kevin's to try and offer a bit of comfort. "Mom and dad are good, just hanging out at home mostly. They work from there since me and Sarah moved out. They said they like the quiet. Sarah's living with her new boyfriend now. She works at that little diner a few blocks away," he finished, once more looking over at the tv. "Should we start the movie or did you have other ideas?"

"You can start the movie, I don't really feel like reliving a lot of stuff right now." Kevin moved to let him get up. "I'll bet it is quieter without Sarah around home. You see her often?" Kevin could imagine how henpecked any guy living with Sarah must be. 

Ed pushed himself up out of the couch with a small amount of difficulty, grabbing a movie from the stack he'd left by the couch and flipping it over then taking the disc out and heading over to the tv. The tiny, thin little player gave a quiet beep when he inserted the disc. He took a remote back to the couch with him and handed it to Kevin before heading into the kitchen and fishing through the cupboards for something for them to snack on while they watched the low-budget gore.

"Yeah, she comes over to check on me about once a week to make sure I haven't died in front of my computer," he sighed, rolling his eyes as he came back once more with a bag of tortilla chips and a jar of green dip.

Kevin had gotten the movie to the menu screen by the time Ed returned. "She's mothering you, huh?" He hit play after Ed sat down and leaned back against him. He had the urge to put his head in the other's lap, but decided against it. "You'd think she wouldn't worry as much with the other Eds being your neighbors and all. They check up on you too?" He took a hand full of chips and tried the dip on one. "What's this one about anyway?" he asked. He'd seen some of these during the lazy summers. They'd been playing all the time on one channel or another. He knew most of them followed a similar pattern.

Ed was already working through the chips with a glob of the spinach dip on each one, staring straight at the movie on screen, which he had to have seen at least five times since it came out. Onscreen was the typical setup, a pair of women stripped down to their underwear swimming in a lake at night under a full moon. The foreboding music began to build before one of them was due to meet their sticky end. "Sarah, Double D, even Jimmy drops by every now and then," Ed finally replied, swiping his tongue across his lips before diving in after another chip.

Kevin knew going in the water at the beginning of one of these movies was never good. Those girls would be eaten by something soon. He winced as he watched the piranhas begin their attack. It was definitely a typical B movie. "Even Jimmy, huh?" Kevin realized he hadn't so much as spoken to Nazz since he left Peach Creek and well, Rolf wasn't in the country at the moment and might not be coming back. Ciel would send him random texts every now and then, as he put it, "To make sure you didn't off yourself in a moment of weakness." Kevin just thought the guy liked messing with him. He was beginning to realize how alone he'd have been here without Ed. He wasn't very good at meeting people outside of a school setting.

"Well, Sarah drags him anyway...they still hang out every once in awhile," Ed replied then smirked as one of the girls swam back to the shore as the other was reduced to chum by the little fish. She was finished off as well as Ed went back to his chips.

"Oh, and Johnny visits every now and then but Double D doesn't really appreciate that," Ed said after awhile. He leaned against Kevin companionably, making sure to leave enough of the dip for Kevin to be able to get some.

"That kid got on my nerves all the time. He didn't know when to stop running his mouth." Kevin began to get his share of the dip as the scene changed to discovery of what was left of the girls. "I couldn't tolerate him most of the time. He still carrying that hunk of wood around?" Kevin rolled his eyes as the authorities made an obviously bad plan that would end up getting the investigators eaten. 

"Plank had a bad attitude so I think it rubbed off on Johnny after awhile," Ed shrugged and shook his head at the idiots on screen. He waved his chip a little at something standing in the corner, bathed in shadow but gleaming slightly in the low light. "He started getting into some heavy stuff after high school though. He still has Plank but he's not in the best shape."

"I'm really not surprised. I always knew that kid needed help, but I guess he didn't get it. Dee and them managed to stay clean and graduate. I never really hear from them anymore. Just Ciel and a couple of others keep in touch every now and then." Kevin pressed his hand to his face as the frog men they sent into the water were eaten in the same manner as the girls, if not worse since they had no chance of reaching the surface to yell for help. "These guys just have no idea what they are doing." He rolled his eyes.

"I think when people go in for horror movie parts they have to get their common sense removed," Ed snorted then made a face as someone made a sensible excuse that he had to leave to make sure his family in the neighboring swamp was ok. Of course he would be eaten later on, but it was the thought that counted, right?

"I know I could never do something like that without laughing my ass off the whole time. They'd have to make me play a body or something." Kevin winced as the first futile attempt the stop the creatures failed horribly, causing even more havoc and chaos. "Makes me think less of my own problems though. I don't have to deal with mutant flesh-eating fish." 

"But you know what you do have to deal with?" Ed grinned widely, placing his chips aside and his dip on the ground, facing Kevin then leaning close and muttering in his ear, "...mutant flesh-eating Ed!" He pounced, wrapping his arms around Kevin and sending him into the cushions as he made loud, gnarly chewing sounds, mouthing over Kevin's neck over the dramatic, slightly horrible sounds coming from the movie.

"Not that!" Kevin said playfully and grabbed one of the cushions and began to hit Ed over the head and then pressed it to Ed's face. "You won't eat me. I'll get you first." Kevin wrapped his arms around the larger male's waist and carefully urged him back with his shoulder. Ed complied all too well with the play and Kevin ended up on top of him.

Ed was still chuckling when he finally settled onto his back with Kevin's weight settled comfortably onto his stomach. He looked up at the smaller man straddled across his waist, his arms wrapping around Kevin's neck loosely. His hair was fanned around his him in a messy cloud. "You think you have won, little man?"

"Not really. I get the feeling you have me right where you want me, you monster." Kevin pressed his nose to Ed's at the last teasing words. "It's down to just me and you. What are you going to do?" Kevin held the cushion at a loose joke that could hardly qualify as being "at the ready". His heart rate had quickened; he had not had this much fun in a while.

"What if I decide you aren't going anywhere for the rest of the night?" Ed smirked then leaned up and nipped at Kevin's nose, his teeth clicking together as he reached up and took the pillow out of Kevin's hands and bopped him lightly over the head with it. He had to admit, this was a hell of a lot better than spending an evening with Eddy and Edd, or sitting in front of his computer in the middle of a raid.

"So the monster is going to keep me prisoner, huh?" Kevin said and carefully took the pillow back. "And just what will you do if I refuse or try and escape?" He returned the gentle bop with one of his own. "What will the monster do about that?" He stroked Ed's hair putting a little of it back behind the other's ear. "The hero has to try and escape or slay the monster." He teased the back of Ed's neck a little with his fingers.

"Do your worst, puny human," Ed growled, grinning then rolling off the couch and onto the floor, his arms around Kevin's body to keep him from getting injured until once more Kevin was on top with Ed's hands on his hips.

Kevin gasped when Ed rolled them onto the floor and pressed himself close to the larger male. Once they were back on the floor he sat back up and pinned his knees gently against Ed. "My worst, monster?" Kevin leaned down and began to kiss behind Ed's ear and down his neck. He carefully slid his hands under the larger male's shirt and begin to gently stroke Ed's stomach with his fingers, teasing the flesh gently.

"You're going to have to do better than that," Ed chuckled quietly, his breath washing over Kevin's neck as he leaned up just barely, his stomach contracting into a solid slab of muscle. He bit gently into the space between Kevin's neck and shoulder, pulling down part of his collar to get to it.

"Better, huh?" Kevin could feel the warmth growing in his stomach as he threw the jacket onto the couch and pulled Ed's shirt up high enough to expose his chest. He tweaked Ed's left nipple to make the "monster" release his hold and kissed down his chest after running his tongue across the abused nipple, then nipping and licking his way lower. Ed made a soft, unintelligible noise as his chest was teased, far too sensitive to just that touch. After that one brief relationship, nobody had even touched him, including himself. He'd had no time, nor any desire to indulge until now. His back arched up, bringing his stomach closer to Kevin's mouth as his muscles continued to shudder and flex. His fingers raked up along Kevin's sides, pulling his shirt up to his chest until their skin could touch.

Kevin paused only briefly to pull off both his and Ed's shirts and toss them aside. He shifted his legs in between Ed's and laid on top of him to continue the ministrations on the other male's chest and stomach. He reached down and undid his pants and managed to kick them off as he continued the work with his mouth. It was so good to do this again; the last time he'd been this intimate with anyone it had just been casual with no desire for a stronger bond. This was much better. He undid Ed's pants this time and took the hem of the other's underwear in his teeth and looked up at him. He smirked and gave Ed a teasing look while still gripping the fabric in his teeth, waiting for a green light to proceed.

Ed's breath huffed out of him at the attention, the delicious progress lower and lower that was already starting to get him hard...then he relaxed as he felt the hem of his jockies pulling away from his hips. He propped himself up on his elbows, staring down at the smaller man between his legs. He swallowed hard, then pushed up with one hand as he ran the other through Kevin's hair to keep it back away from his face.

"Only if you're sure..."

Kevin simply began by gently kissing up and down the shaft and carefully teasing Ed's balls with his thumb. He slowly began to work the hardening erection into his mouth reveling in Ed's expressions. He hummed gently as he took the full length in slowly, teasingly. He kept his tongue gently working the flesh and watched Ed for signs of approaching climax. He doubted he'd swallow, unsure if he liked that idea or not yet, but he wanted to know when he was about to need to rush to the kitchen just in case. He slipped his arms under Ed's legs and carefully lifted his lower body just a little to be able to move in or out of his mouth as he pleased. He couldn't keep lifting Ed up too far because of the size difference, but he had no doubt the other man would take the hint and assist when the time came.

Ed's breathing grew heavy, labored as his head fell back, his mouth open as his hips began to move of their own accord. He'd never had someone go down on him before and it was making him weak and shaky and he was glad he was on the floor. At least, he would have been, had he been able to think at all. That tease around his testicles made them grow tight against his body. He made a choked sound as fluid began to leak from him slowly, bitter to the taste. He wound his fingers into Kevin's hair, trying without thinking to thrust further into his mouth. He didn't know whether Kevin's gag reflex was strong or not and later he would probably have to apologize but for now, he was too enthralled.

"K...Kevin-" he finally choked out, the telltale throbbing in the thick vein along the underside of his shaft signaling his eminent release.

Kevin almost choked when Ed suddenly thrust into his mouth, but he managed to recover quickly and tasted the bitter precum. He'd have to get more variety into Ed's diet if he was going to do this more often. He heard the warning and prepared for the moment as he gave one final firm suck. The texture was stranger than the taste as he felt Ed spill the payload into his mouth. Kevin struggled to keep it all in as he eased Ed out, but he eventually found it was a losing battle and just swallowed it. He reached for the dip and, as the chips were out of reach, simply got a bit on his finger to take the taste away. 

He sat down on the couch and watched as Ed relaxed in the afterglow. His own boxers were becoming uncomfortable, but he was enjoying the fact that he could make Ed so happy. Ed's back was still arched when Kevin pulled off, his eyes rolled up into his head, until finally he relaxed, panting quietly and running his hands over his face until he could trust himself to speak. He could see the look on Kevin's face at the taste and he blushed faintly, sitting up and leaning against the couch. He reached out a hand and ran his thumb across Kevin's lip to rub off the light shine of semen still across his lower lip. He wouldn't kiss him, not until he brushed his teeth, and he said as much before helping Kevin up onto the couch and pulling at the front of his pants. "Now let me return the favor..."

"I ought to make you taste." Kevin teased and leaned towards the other male as if to kiss him before snickering and leaning back again. "You don't have to if you don't want to, Ed," he said as helped Ed get his boxers off. "You can just give me a hand job if you'd rather do that. He stroked a little of Ed's hair away from his face. "I'm going to have to make you get more variety of food in dude, that stuff was bitter as hell." Kevin smirked and teased Ed's chin a little.

"Not like I ever had any motivation to make it taste good," Ed groused, pouting up at Kevin briefly before taking up a comfortable position sitting between Kevin's legs. He dipped his head down and took Kevin's erection in hand, starting to stroke him slowly as he pressed his lips to the head, then worked his way down until he was pressing open-mouthed kisses to the base, then to Kevin's scrotum. He teased the entire area, sac, thighs and groin with his lips and tongue for a long time before finally sweeping his tongue in a long lap across the head. He listened the entire time, just reading Kevin's reactions.

Kevin gripped the couch hard. "Nah, I guess you didn't," he panted and leaned back. The sensations were almost too intense. He reached forward with one hand and ran his fingers through Ed's mane. "Keep doing that, it's really good." He was enjoying the loss of self control that the sensations were bringing on. He felt like he could have just quit thinking completely, but he knew better. He had to stay aware and warn Ed when his climax was close. It would not be long now.

As Kevin's hand wound into his hair, Ed dipped down further, his tongue slipping along smooth skin until his nose touched down in the patch of hair just above Kevin's groin, the head of the other man's erection gently bumping the back of his throat. He began to bob his head slowly, keeping one hand on Kevin's hip to keep him from moving too much, the other hand dipping down and teasing around Kevin's testicles and thumbing at the base of his cock. He could taste the bitter precum starting to pool and dribble into his mouth and made a quiet sound but for the most part ignored it. He'd eaten much worse in his time.

Ed's work on Kevin with his mouth was the most pleasant thing the he had ever experienced. He was glad Ed had taken a hold of him because his body wanted to squirm away from contact in the most sensitive areas. He was feeling very warm all over and felt he either was going to release or explode. He knew what people meant by being overstimulated now.

Kevin knew he could hold back no longer. He tightened his grip on Ed's hair. "I'm about to..." He gasped and knew he would be unable to hold it back much longer.

Ed gave one last long, hard suck as he rose up off of Kevin just in time to feel that vein throbbing hard, leaning his head back as Kevin's seed fountained out of him and over the hand still maintaining a grip at the base of his shaft. He watched Kevin's body as it rolled in the waves of insane pleasure, smiling faintly to himself in spite of the tightening grip on his hair.

Kevin's grip progressively loosened until he had let go of Ed completely. He had not felt this intense a sensation in a long time. He was aware of letting loose the load, but he had no desire to be conscious of where it was going or really anything other than the feelings going through his body. The high, like all such feelings, did not last forever. But he did enjoy it while it lasted. He began to feel very sleepy as the waves diminished and eventually ceased. "So good, Ed," he said quietly with half lidded eyes. He reached out weakly to Ed doubting he could support himself at the moment. He knew he would damn sure not go back to his empty apartment tonight.

"I try," Ed said a bit shyly as he used his clean hand to help Kevin to his feet, wrapping his arm around the smaller man's waist to hold him up, smiling and looking back at the movie. The credits were rolling, an old rock song playing in the background. The chips were left alone on the couch as Ed supported Kevin down the short hallway toward his bedroom and settled him onto the queen-sized bed gingerly. He glanced back at his hand and held it up once more to keep from dripping on the floor.

The room was a mess, as it had always been, and it was just as dark as the rest of the apartment. An immense rack of comics lined one wall, carefully organized, with signs on each shelf telling what issue, what genre, what title, etc each individual comic was. It looked more like Double D's handiwork than Ed's, save for the scribbled writing that had to be the biggest Ed's. Kevin barely registered having been helped to the bed, much less the state of disorder the room was in. As soon as he was laid upon the bed he began to drift off. He managed to mumble something incoherent that Ed just barely caught anything from before falling completely asleep. He wasn't even sure what he had been trying to say.

After taking the time to wash his hands and turn off the tv in the living room, Ed closed the bedroom door behind him and spooned up behind the smaller man, automatically wrapping his arms around Kevin's middle and pulling him close. He pressed his lips into the crook of Kevin's neck softly then nuzzled his head into the pillows contently.


	6. Inelegant Eloquence

Kevin sleepily turned snuggled into the warm body next to him. He wasn't even close to being aware of his surroundings yet. He felt like he had slept better than he ever had before. He stayed like that for a while, just enjoying the feeling of being this close to someone else. As the fogginess of sleep began to lift from him, he soon realized where he was and who he was in bed with. He smiled at the memory of last night's escapades and nuzzled into the crook of Ed's neck and draped a leg over the larger man's. 

"You awake yet, big Ed?" He passed a hand over the other man's hair and pressed his lips gently to Ed's face.

Ed continued to snore for a few moments after Kevin had woken up, his face still shoved into the pillows that he'd begun to drool on some time during the night. He shut his mouth eventually though and made a face at the dryness of his mouth before realizing just why he was so warm in his bed. He smiled faintly and nudged his forehead down against Kevin's gently. "Am now..." he murmured, then rolled onto his back and pulled Kevin onto him. He smirked a little as he rolled his hips gently, his hands resting against the small of Kevin's back.

Kevin returned the grin and kissed Ed's chest. "Feeling frisky this morning?" He rubbed his body against Ed's lightly giving Ed a playful look. "I'm up for whatever you want to do today." He planted another playful kiss on the larger body. "Last night was the best night of my life. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"And what about the night behind the theater?" Ed smiled faintly as he ran his hands up over Kevin's back, raking his nails over the other's skin lightly then running them back down. He leaned up and pecked Kevin's lips, then his neck down to his shoulder and started to suck small marks into the freckled skin.

"Oh I used that night to help me relieve stress on many nights." He moved to give Ed better access. "Last night and that night were the best sex I'd ever had." He ran his hands over the larger male, caressing some areas and drawing patterns with his fingers over others. "What about you, how were they for you?"

"I never even really thought about sex 'til all that," Ed admitted, then bit down softly into Kevin's shoulder and sucked a darker, slightly more permanent mark into being. He smiled a little against the spot and once more rolled his hips up into Kevin's, bouncing the smaller man up a little. Then he made a face. "Your breath still smells like dip and spunk."

"I didn't exactly get a chance to brush my teeth." He snickered and then made a face tasting the inside of his mouth. "Let me get rid of this before we do anything else." He kissed his lover's neck and gently got up off the bed. "Wait, where's your bathroom?" Kevin sat back down on the bed and laughed at himself a little. 

"You were just lazy," Ed laughed then sat up, stretching luxuriously then standing and pulling Kevin to his feet. He opened the bedroom door, dropping the temperature of the room a few degrees as he pointed out a door about four feet down the hallway on the opposite wall. "There's a spare toothbrush and some toothpaste. Just make sure you don't knock over the bucket."

"More like you were too good." He smirked and headed out of the bedroom. "Thanks and I'll keep that in mind." He made sure not to upset the upside-down black bucket when he went into the bathroom. He found the toothbrush and brushed twice to be sure the odd mix of last night's activities and dip were gone, ignoring the disconcerting skritching noises coming from the bucket. He rejoined Ed in the bedroom and resumed his position on top of the larger male.

Ed was smirking slightly when Kevin rejoined him, and the cause was soon quite apparent: while Kevin had been in the bathroom he had stripped out of his boxers and tossed them to the floor across the room. He ran his hands up along Kevin's legs, just under his shorts, moved up to his back and began to rub and massage there. His big, slightly calloused hands ran over the smaller man's body in long, slow sweeps as his own body began to move slowly in rhythm.

During his courses to earn his degree, he had taken classes in massage therapy and the result of that was a deft talent with his hands, even at this angle as he kneaded Kevin's back and sides.

"That's good..." Kevin pressed himself closer to the larger male and kissed across any skin he could reach. "Where'd you learn this?"

"School," Ed said simply, then eased himself out from under Kevin and let the smaller man relax beneath him as he resumed the slow massage. He hadn't felt this relaxed in quite a while. He was beginning to realize he'd prefer not to ever leave Ed's side. He wasn't sure how far the two of them would go, but right now he didn't see an end any time soon.

"You keep touching me like that and I'll never want to get up.".

Ed sat straddled across Kevin's backside, kneading and stroking muscles that were still tense in spite of the night they'd had. He chuckled quietly when he heard Kevin mumbling and leaned down over him enough to press his lips to the back of Kevin's head. "Maybe that's the plan..."

"I might just let you do that if you keep pampering me like this." Kevin laid his head on his arms and let Ed do his work. He had not realized just how tense he'd been for so long. He tried to appear laid back most of them time, but the truth was he was wound pretty tightly. "I've got another couple of days before I start work. I don't have much motivation to go anywhere, but I think you're making a pretty good case for me to stay right here regardless." He was starting to feel a little sleepy again but he knew he could keep from nodding off if he kept talking.

"Good...I don't want you to leave any time soon," Ed smiled faintly as he readjusted himself to sit on top of Kevin's thighs, running his hands lower until he was kneading and damn near outright groping handfuls of sculpted ass. He made a content sound as he worked the entire area, from his lower back all the way to his thighs.

"Pretty sure they didn't teach you to do that in class." Kevin snickered knowing that what Ed was doing right now seemed to be leaning towards more than just a relaxing massage. "You can go a little lower if you want, Ed." He returned the larger male's content noise with a quiet moan of his own. He decided he wouldn't mind waking up to this every morning.

"Actually the stimulation and relaxing of the glutes helps to prevent injuries around the area," Ed replied, nodding matter-of-factly then grinning as he returned to the area in question and worked his hands over and under the boxers Kevin was still inexplicably wearing.

"Learn something new everyday." Kevin smiled and reached to ease his boxers down a little to give Ed a bit more access. "I'll remember that. I'm pretty happy you took that class to tell you the truth. I think I needed this." He didn't think he could have gone to a spa and let some stranger do even a fraction of this. He relaxed once more on the bed and hoped that they wouldn't be interrupted somehow.

"Yeah, you always look like you're ready to snap like a rubber band even when you're faking," Ed observed, then hooked his fingers around the waistband of Kevin's boxers and eased them down further before sitting on top of the material around Kevin's thighs, giving his hands more room to wander. Now it was less of a massage, more of a regular caress and even something of a worship of the smaller, leaner body beneath him. Bending double, Ed once more pressed his lips along Kevin's shoulder and on down along the middle of his back.

"I'll admit I'm high strung. I'm trying to mellow out a bit now though. Especially since I'm not trying to impress people any more." Kevin twisted around and reached back, stroking Ed's face as his back was kissed. "I've taken life way too seriously.

"I can also admit I've been quite the horse's ass when I was younger. I have to wonder what I did to deserve this pleasure." He turned his head to smirk at Ed playfully. When Ed looked back, it was with a soft smile and serious eyes.

"You saved me...

"I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for you. I'm not very bright...you know that as well as anyone...But look at me now. Got a good job, a nice apartment, great stuff, and now..." he trailed off, lying down against Kevin's body and nudging the smaller man's head with his own. "Got myself a new bed warmer."

"Hard to believe I did all that, you had to be doing some of it yourself." Kevin chuckled and nuzzled his head against Ed's. "Bed warmer huh? I guess it's better than being called your teddy bear or something." He playfully pressed a finger to Ed's nose for a moment before then ruffling the other male's hair a bit.

"I don't need a teddy bear. Bed warmers are more useful," Ed grinned then bit on the ends of Kevin's fingers while behind and below them, Ed sneaked a leg up in between Kevin's thighs and started to tease him.

"Well I'm glad I could be useful to somebody." Kevin moved his playfully bitten fingers to tweak one of Ed's nipples in response to the growing warmth that teasing leg was causing. Part of him felt he was too old to play games like this and last night and that this was just silly, but the part of him he was paying attention to told him to go right ahead and enjoy himself.

Ed laughed quietly and leaned down to nip Kevin's ear, his leg riding up higher as his hands slipped up along Kevin's sides then pushed down under his hips, fingertips just barely teasing around Kevin's groin. "Yep. You're useful, and you're amusing. So I think I'll keep you."

"Woof." Kevin pressed his face to Ed's. His heart rate had quickened not only from the contact but also from the question he struggled to form. "Sounds like you want me to move in or something." He pressed a hand to Ed's and smirked as he added playfully, "or am I just a weekend pet?"

Ed's brow arched up slightly as he chuckled into Kevin's ear. "I dunno about moving in but...you're sure as heck not just a weekend pet. Told you, I'm keeping you. That means forever. If that's ok with you," Ed smiled and pressed his lips into the crook of Kevin's neck softly.

"That's just fine with me, as long as you know I'm keeping you too." Kevin ran a hand across Ed's face and pressed his lips to Ed's briefly. He knew living separately was probably better for the moment. He was glad Ed was only moving this fast and he was also happy he'd been able to clear that up so easily. He was quite content to see if this could really go on forever. 

"You going to keep teasing me or are we actually going to do something this morning?" He kissed along Ed's neck and nipped him lightly in the shoulder.

"Hmm...if you insist," Ed teased quietly then leaned his weight back down into Kevin's backside, rolling his hips slowly as his hands once more dipped down, edging along Kevin's groin and playing around there gently. He breathed softly into Kevin's ear then bit on the edge of it before moving back down to his neck.

Kevin let out a moan as Ed began his work. "Oh, I do," he huffed, his eyes falling closed. He shifted his legs as he tried to rid himself of his boxers, which were still around his thighs.

Ed lifted himself just enough to let Kevin's boxers slip off, taking and tossing them across the room before helping the smaller man over to lay comfortably on his back then once more laying over him. He smiled widely and dipped back down to kiss along Kevin's neck and shoulders to his chest, all the while rolling his hips teasingly slow into those of the man trapped beneath him. "Then it seems I have no choice..."

"Do your worst then." Kevin teased and pressed his hips Ed and did a little grinding of his own before dropping back down. He didn't even care that he always seemed to end up underneath the larger man; he kind of liked being at his mercy, not that he could do much else at the moment. "I can take it." He panted feeling warmer as Ed headed further south.

"Oh really..." Ed grinned and nipped lightly at Kevin's stomach until he was once more settled between the smaller man's knees and pressing his lips in a wide pattern around Kevin's stomach and thighs. Then he nuzzled down further until he was pressed close to the cleft of Kevin's buttocks and teasing there with his teeth. His arms were wrapped around Kevin's legs to hold him in place.

"Sh-shit," Kevin gasped, surprised by this new sensation. It wasn't unpleasant but it was very unexpected. He gripped a handful of the bed covers in each hand tightly and arched his back to give Ed more access; if he was going to let the other man please him as he chose he might as well give him a little help doing it. Kevin could feel his face growing very warm and he was beginning to pant a little as he made quiet noises in response. "You really...know how to...drive me nuts..."

Ed just made an unintelligible noise and buried his face in deeper, teasing the nerves as much as he could but the truth was, he'd never done something like this before. He was simply going on what he'd learned over his college years from talking to the local LGBTQ group and some of what they seemed to get up to really looked... _questionable_. But nevertheless he'd taken some of their advice to heart, especially when it came to how some of the other guys interacted with their lovers.

He eventually ventured in a finger and started to tease where his tongue had started to cramp.

"Fu...Fuck." Kevin was no longer able to support his lower half properly and covered his eyes and face with his hands. These feelings were, unbelievably to him, possibly more intense than last night's session. He was shivering slightly from the stimulation and he wondered if it was causing the rest of his body to seem more sensitive. He wondered just where the hell Ed had learned to do this, or if he was just playing it by ear. He had seen some these techniques described on the internet, but to feel it in practice was much different than trying to imagine it. He only knew for sure that he was enjoying it.

Ed lifted himself up onto his knees, levering Kevin up until his back was off the bed. He buried his face in further, pushing in his finger lubricated by saliva until he was up to the second knuckle, his mouth up and running along the underside of Kevin's shaft but never quite enveloping it.

Kevin just knew all this should be making him pass out. He asked Ed to stop for just a moment, calming down for a few moments then letting him know he could continue. He had needed time to collect himself to stay not only aware of his surroundings but also to begin to regulate his breathing better. "I'm pretty close now, Ed." It wasn't imminent, but he knew he would be reaching his limit not long from now.

Ed took the opportunity to catch his breath; he'd been holding it just so he could reserve more of his energy just for thoroughly stimulating every part of Kevin he could with just his mouth. He moved back, peppering Kevin's skin with wet kisses until he himself was just sitting back, pulling Kevin onto his lap and looking up at him.

"Sit," he said in a quiet, commanding voice very much unlike what he normally used.

Kevin was startled by the command for a second but he complied and sat as he was told. He was still quivering slightly from all the stimulation but he managed to calm himself down for what came next. "I'm ready when you are."

As Kevin seated himself, Ed guided himself into the hot, tight recess of the smaller man's body, at the same time thrusting up until his hips were once more socked firmly into Kevin's. He gave a quiet groan, his eyes squeezing shut then coming open halfway as he focused blearily on his lover's face. He gave a quiet swear then began to move his hips slowly.

Kevin gripped Ed's shoulders and began to match his rhythm, moving himself to meet the thrusts. He tried to get Ed to speed up a little by quickening his own pace. He knew he'd probably be sore either way, so he wanted to find that sweet spot faster and begin really trying to help Ed along instead of keeping the pace slow and easy for his own sake. He knew he needed to remember next time he came over to bring lube. Ed's hands ran down slowly and gripped Kevin's buttocks in both hands, rolling and kneading them slowly as his hips, while remaining slow, picked up force until he was snapping up hard. He angled himself based on Kevin's reactions and started to drive into that sweet spot that drove the smaller man insane in his arms.

Every time Ed hit that spot Kevin couldn't help uttering a load moan. He eventually cursed and knew he'd pelt the larger man with his load soon. He gripped himself with one hand and tried to delay it a little. He knew that trying to do this at the same time was silly and unnecessary, but he'd rather if one of them had to go first, it should be Ed. "I'm real close..." He almost whimpered.

"Good," Ed breathed and leaned down to bite gently into Kevin's shoulder, sucking as he picked up his pace and at the same time as he raised a new bruise, the slap of skin grew audible around the bedroom. The dim light of the room disguised how late in the day it was becoming; the sounds of traffic were unmistakable but lost on them both. He moved one hand away from Kevin's backside and wrapped it around the erection bobbing and slipping against his stomach, stroking in time with his thrusts.

Kevin could hold back no longer. After just a few strokes he couldn't help but release his burden. He tried hard not to lean forward against Ed and ruin the perfect angle, not until he felt his lover reach the same point. It was just about a useless battle with his body riding the waves of pleasure and his mind losing focus on much else. Ed leaned the two of them forward, still maintaining the angle but starting to strain his legs as he drove in harder, faster, growing clumsier until he was crying out loudly against Kevin's chest, his sweat-slicked bangs sticking to the smaller man's skin. He relented after a few long moments, then stretched out still curled around and inside his lover's body.

Instead of feeling drowsy, it felt now as if he had energy to spare and when the afterglow started to fade off, Ed was sitting up and stretching with his arms up over his head. Lean, slightly bulging muscles slipped smoothly under his skin as he flexed and popped his back then looked down at Kevin with a small, good-humored smirk.

Kevin knew he was grinning like as idiot as he lay before his lover. He was barely aware of Ed's release while the waves still crashed over him, but now he was well aware of the slick warmth inside him. He also realized they had not eaten since the chips last night. "I think when I'm able to get up again, we need to shower and eat something." He reached to touch Ed's face gently. He'd have to return that wonderful favor somehow.

Ed threaded his fingers into Kevin's hair tenderly and leaned down, pecking his lips then pulling him up and holding him loosely. He chuckled and nodded his head as his stomach gave a squishy-sounding growl at the idea of food. "Can you cook? Though I don't really have much besides instant stuff..."

"I'm no gourmet chef or anything, but I can cook some things. I'll have to see what you have on hand though before I can tell you if I can make anything better." Kevin knew in the past being asked that kind of question, especially right after being the bottom during sex, might have made him lash out feeling like he had been called the "chick" of the relationship or something. But after living in such close quarters to Ciel and the group and hanging out with them had not only helped him overcome some of the stereotypes but had also helped him learn to not accuse his lover of thinking or doing anything without solid proof. Not to mention he'd loved the sex.

"I can't believe you got through school without learning how to cook. I had more cash on hand after cutting out the meal plan and starting to make my own meals." He managed to get up finally. Kevin retrieved his clothes from the living room and redressed minus the jacket on his way to the kitchen. "So what do I have to work with?" He approached the refrigerator first.

Ed scooped his pants off the floor on the way to the living room, pulling them up around his narrow hips and letting them droop as he stepped up behind Kevin. He laid one hand on his hip as he peered over his shoulder at the cupboard, crammed full of canned food, soups, Chef Boyardee, then such instant things as ramen packets, and in a large stack several different types of cereal. When they looked in the fridge instead, there were bags of hamburger, protein shakes and other such supplements for his workout routine, plus several more or less healthy drinks. In short, very little to constitute a real meal. "Eh..."

"Not to much to work with here." Kevin pulled some hamburger out and set it on the counter. He pulled several packets of ramen and a can of tomato soup from the cupboard. He pulled a pan and a pot out and got to work making what constituted a dorm room spaghetti. He added ketchup and a little sugar and pepper to the soup in a pot with some extra water and heated it as he fried the burger in a little butter. He waited to add the noodles until after the burger was done and drained and let it all boil for three minutes. 

He pulled out two forks and two bowls and poured some of his little kitchen experiment into them. He had thought the sauce was okay, but he knew it would have been better if he wasn't using tomato soup as the base. It had turned out to be more of a tomato soup with meat and noodles really. He'd be bringing groceries with him next time for sure. "It's ready, Ed."

"Smells weird," Ed said offhand then took his bowl and immediately dug in his fork, shoveling a large amount into his mouth then making a face as his eyes teared up. He made a whimpering sound and forced himself to swallow the scalding food. He stuck out his burned tongue then looked up at Kevin pathetically. "Ow..."

Kevin sighed and tried not to smile at Ed's innocence; the guy still had a lot to learn. "You need to blow on it dude." He kissed Ed's cheek, got a piece of ice from the freezer for the larger male to suck on and blew on a small forkful before trying it himself. It wasn't the best thing he'd ever made but it was palatable. He would have preferred real pasta to packaged ramen, that was for sure. He was also happy he knew better than to add the flavor packs to this, then it would have turned Ed's stomach as well as burned his mouth. "I'll bet your gut isn't feeling too good after that." He reached over and rubbed his lover's stomach in a gentle circular motion.

Ed just wrinkled his nose and put his hand over Kevin's then licked a little of the sauce of the smaller man's cheek. He made a sad face and stuck his tongue out once more. "I can't taste anything...burned my tastebuds off. 's all...rubbery."

"Then it doesn't matter if it sucked then." Kevin laughed off this abysmal first meal and got up to check the cabinet. "Here," he came back with a spoon and a box of baking powder, "hold this in your mouth for a bit. It helps relieve the burn." He drew out a tablespoon full and offered it to Ed. "You don't have to swallow it, just put it in your mouth and hold it."

Ed immediately took the spoon, then almost instantly began to regret it. He mused for a moment that he should probably have been foaming at the mouth as he just whimpered at Kevin but kept the stuff on his tongue. He sat on the couch with his bowl perched on his knees, still intending to eat it because even if it was weird, it was food, Kevin had made it, and he was hungry as hell. A burn on the tongue wasn't about to slow him down for long.

"I'll make you something better next time," Kevin said as he was finishing off his bowl. He knew it shouldn't be this important to him, but he still couldn't help but be annoyed at himself for the pathetic attempt. After he washed his bowl he returned to Ed and leaned against his lover with his head against the larger man's shoulder. "Feel any better now?"

"Meh," Ed replied then stuck out his tongue with the spoon still stuck to it. He picked up the fork still in his bowl and poked Kevin's arm with it. He replaced the spoon on his tongue with the fork, then made a horrible face and headed for the kitchen to find himself something cold to drink. "Never using baking powder again!"

"Well maybe you'll remember to blow next time then," Kevin called playfully after him. He laid back and shut his eyes for a moment. He had to let this go, he was still letting silly crap bother him. So the first thing he made hadn't gone over well, so what? At least he hadn't poisoned the guy. He managed a smile and chuckled a little thinking about the face Ed had made before he rushed the kitchen. Maybe he could lighten up a little after all.

"You suck," Ed called back then rinsed out his mouth with a lot of water before coming back with a 2-liter of ginger ale, sucking contently on the top of the bottle then settling back into the couch. He glanced over at Kevin then smiled faintly to himself. It was nice to see a smile on his face outside of the bedroom.

"I know I do," Kevin smirked and stuck his tongue halfway out at Ed. "I showed you that last night." He leaned against the larger male and couldn't help snickering again. This seemed so strangely satisfying to just sit here and be mundane and normal. It was a far cry from the tension they had been under when they were last together. He turned a little and put his legs up on the couch and laid his head in his lover's lap. "I thought you liked when I sucked," he grinned.

Ed couldn't help but turn a light pink at the teasing, poking Kevin's nose a few times then chuckling and leaning down to press his lips to Kevin's softly. "Even so, you still suck. Making me eat baking powder...such a dick move." He shook his head then leaned back, threading his fingers through the other's hair contently as he relaxed back with his head leaning into the couch.

"It was for your own good." Kevin shut his eyes, enjoying the contact. "I told you you didn't need to swallow it." He snickered, "If you weren't so impatient to taste my cooking you wouldn't have gotten burned. It really wasn't that good, the burning and the powder was probably an improvement." He laughed a little more and turned to kiss Ed's hand. "I'll do better next time, I'll make sure it's something cold." He winked at his lover playfully. 

"Come on, I'm not that fragile," Ed groused, wrinkling his nose but smiling nonetheless. He continued tickling his fingers along the smaller man's scalp, looking down at him warmly. He'd never spent time with someone like this before, and at the moment he was fine with that. Kevin would be his first real relationship.

His first real love.

It was a strange thought but it gave him butterflies in the stomach and a warmth throughout his chest. He leaned down and pressed his lips to the middle of Kevin's forehead then sat back up once more with his head back against the couch.

"Nah, I don't think your fragile. You just managed to hold on to more of your inner child than most of us. You're still pretty innocent in a way." Kevin reached up and stroked Ed's face a little. He hadn't felt this comfortable around anyone in a long time. He was glad it wasn't just the lust between them really. He wanted something like this, as mushy as it seemed. He was enjoying the warm happiness it brought to him. It was unlike like any relationship he'd had before.

Nazz and he had never been able to just sit like this. With her he'd always had some kind of tension. He had always felt that something was really off. He hadn't felt any happier as her boyfriend than as her friend. In fact it had been nicer to just be friends, so much simpler. They had parted as such, but not having heard from her in six years suggested that there hadn't even been much to their friendship in the first place. He was just glad the break was cleaner than it had been from Tina. He'd avoided _her_ like the plague after that final phone call.

Ed sat quietly after that comment, just sitting and thinking for a moment about where he'd be if he was as intelligent or mature as Double D. His friend was happy, it seemed, but he was always so stressed, always running around, doing something, and he rarely was relaxed. He wondered when the last time Double D and Eddy had even had the time to sit together and talk, or even to make love. Neither of them would tell him that, but Ed could tell when Eddy was... _sated_ by how he held himself the day after.

At that thought he looked down at Kevin once more, his hand running down along the smaller man's stomach. "Are you still sore?"

"Not enough to bug me." Kevin leaned up to kiss Ed's face again. "I wouldn't be laying in your lap if I was still hurting any. You didn't see me walking or sitting funny did ya? I'm not fragile either." He pressed his face to his lover's neck briefly before resuming his former position. He preferred this to the idea of sitting in Ed's lap, that seemed like it should reserved for if he ever needed comfort. This was relaxing without him feeling like he was being submissive or showing himself as weaker than Ed somehow. This was just about what he felt like doing and he didn't mind the idea of returning the favor should Ed want a turn.

He knew Ed was neighbors with the other two Eds, he couldn't help wondering about how their relationship might be going. Getting married was a big step, one he wasn't even going to think about yet. He knew he'd seen some of himself in Eddy when they were kids, that same thirst for popularity. The difference was, he knew, that he'd always made it look easy to obtain. Truth was he had been a bit jealous of Eddy's ability to make such close friends with such strong loyalty. That had always come hard to Kevin. You couldn't always have favorites and stay on top. Rolf had been the closest thing he'd had to a best friend. He missed him sometimes, but as nothing more than a friend. He'd never even considered crossing that line. Rolf was back in his homeland at the moment anyway. He had no idea when or if he'd return.

He shoved those back with his other what ifs, never was, and the rest of the things he had resolved not to drag out any longer. What he had right now was good enough for him. He felt like he could truly relax around Ed and just be the Kevin he wanted to be.

Ed opened his mouth to reply, but as if on some unheard cue a knock at the door broke through the comfortable silence. They could hear Eddy's still rather petulant voice through the door, yelling if Ed was home, quickly hushed by Double D with the warning that an apartment manager would come up and warn them _again_. Ed glanced down at Kevin, offering an apologetic look before easing himself out from under his lover's head and answering the door. Immediately he was almost tripped over as Eddy pushed in past him, shaking his head at the darkness in the apartment. Double D looked around with a sigh and shook his head as well.

"Ed, you really should get a little sunlight in here," he said then noticed the movement on the couch. "Oh, Kevin! Hello, are you visiting or do you live around here?"

Kevin had sat up as Ed went to answer the door. He had just managed to get upright as the two came into the dimly lit apartment. "Just moved in not too far from here yesterday," he answered casually, "Ran into Ed at the local video place." He stayed seated and noted that Ed's shirt and the familiar green jacket were still on the floor from where they had been discarded the night before. "We've been catching up. How have you two been?" He knew better than to get annoyed about being interrupted, and really he had been expecting it to happen ever since Ed had told him the two lived in the adjacent building.

Eddy looked down at the clothes on the floor and Kevin's position on the couch, then back at Double D for support. He didn't seem mad, per se, but he didn't really look happy that Kevin was there either. Double D was all smiles though, since it seemed like Kevin wasn't there under ulterior motives, especially judging by the peaceful smile on Ed's face as the largest man embraced him.

"Really Ed, we see eachother every day or so..."

"Yeah but you guys should come up here more," Ed replied then made as if to steal Double D's hat, only to laugh as he ducked away and swatted his hand.

Kevin couldn't help but smile at Ed's antics. He knew the last time the four of them had been in a room together it had not been under the best circumstances and he'd felt like an odd man out. This time he wasn't leaving unless Ed asked him to and he doubted that was going to happen. Kevin laughed a little as he watched the trio; he doubted Double D's hardest strike would even register as a hit to Ed. He could tell Eddy wasn't completely on board with his being here but seemed lost without guidance. It seemed that Eddy had been mellowed out, or was just worried about making Ed angry by saying the wrong thing. He knew a mad seven-foot Ed would be nearly impossible to stop.

Edd pouted then crossed his arms and held himself back as Ed pulled the brim of his hat down over his eyes; it seemed that Double D had calmed down as well, at least when it came to people touching his hat. There was even more than just a few hairs poking out of the bottom of it now. A thick, dark and short ponytail trailed from under the back, the rest presumably slicked back. Ed pulled on this, prompting Double D to swat him, then Eddy come up between the two and separated them.

"Alright, break it up before I slug you, big Ed," the shortest Ed said, wrinkling his nose then looking back at Kevin. "So, you're still hanging around Ed?"

"I'd call it something a bit more than hanging around, but you could say that." Kevin stood and approached the largest Ed. He gave his lover's hair a gentle tug. "How about you come back to the couch before you get in trouble with these two?" He knew helping defuse this was probably best, even if it was funny to watch. "I'm sure they'd like to sit down too." He smirked at Ed and headed back to the couch. He knew touching or teasing each other in public was one thing, but he knew he better get used to these two being around if he wanted to get further with the biggest Ed. 

The look on Eddy's face only grew more sour at Kevin's display, but he held his silence as Edd wrapped a hand around his wrist. The smallest Ed smiled and nodded his head once at Kevin, as if offering his blessing to the two of them after having discerned just why Kevin was there, more or less. Ed offered a lopsided smile in return then settled onto the couch and ran a hand behind the smaller man's back.

"Well, if we hear any kinda funny business with you, find yourself a good insurance policy," Eddy threatened thinly, ignoring the look Double D gave him.

"Oh, I think Ed knows how to handle me just fine, but I'll try to remember that if I ever lose my mind." Kevin reached back and intertwined his fingers firmly with Ed's and brought it forward to rest in the very small space between them. He didn't want Ed to start anything that would make him lose focus and he knew the other just wanted some kind of contact. He's gotten used to the idea of holding hands a long time ago. "So what have you two been up to lately?"

Ed returned the grip on his hand without hesitation, smiling and leaning a bit into Kevin's shoulder with a small smile up at his two closest friends in the world. "You guys worry too much."

"I think we have a right to-"

"Enough, Eddy...I think we should be happy for the two of them." Double D once more smiled at the pair on the couch then took a tentative seat on the other end, waiting for Eddy to come sit beside him. It was obvious what they were doing now: They wanted to learn what they could about the relationship or potentially work into it before it could get too serious. They didn't need to know exactly how serious it'd gotten just yet.

Kevin understood Eddy's concern. He had been the neighborhood bully even if he'd still been popular. Eddy was possibly worried this was something darker or some weird revenge after all these years. "Keep as close a watch over me as you want. I don't mind answer any questions about my intentions." Kevin leaned into fully Ed letting his head rest on the other's shoulder. 

"I know I haven't always been the nicest person around, I know I've been a douchebag and an ass. I'm trying to be better now. I'd like to get to a point where you two trust me not to hurt him. I know that won't be fast or easy, but I want to get there. For Ed." Part of him was uneasy but he ignored that and reminded himself that it was just the other Eds. They weren't a threat in the same way as the frat, they just wanted Ed to be happy.

Ed blushed lightly as Kevin kissed him in front of his friends but smiled faintly. He held his peace, as did Eddy and Double D for the moment. He listened to them all talk among themselves, feeling more and more content as his friends seemed to calm down and start accepting Kevin being in his life, more or less. Eventually Eddy spoke up and asked if they could stay over and watch a movie, at which point Ed looked down at Kevin. He was fine with having his friends over, given how friendly they were being toward the whole situation, but he wouldn't go over Kevin's head.

"It's your place, man." Kevin playfully nudged his elbow into Ed's side. "I don't mind watching another movie. You want me to get the snacks?" He looked up at him with a smirk. He knew he was probably getting more fun than he should out of teasing his lover, and he might get a similar but worse treatment in the bedroom tonight. He didn't care though. Ed had done nothing to him that he didn't find quite enjoyable so far. "I don't have to be in for orientation and training until tomorrow afternoon," he said, knowing there was no reason to act like they had a limited amount of time. He really didn't feel like it would be strange if they didn't make love again tonight. After all, as long as he was living so close, they would have plenty of chances to hook up again.

Ed could tell that Kevin was getting just a little too much enjoyment out of teasing him in front of his friends, who simply watched with small smiles of their own. Eddy was loosening up little by little, but he still kept an eye on Kevin, just in case. When Double D joined Ed in the kitchen to prepare something that each of them could eat, Eddy leaned over to Kevin with narrowed eyes.

"So, after six years a' nothin' you're suddenly back in Ed's life and all cozy in his apartment..."

Kevin felt his good mood drain out of him like air out of a punctured innertube. He felt that old hollow feeling coming back to him, the same one that had both made him want and not want to get back in contact with Ed over the past six years. He had struggled with the urge every time he found those rare free moments when he had a break from his course work and his position on the team. He had wanted to give Ed a chance to find happiness. The idea of a long distance relationship had been a painful thing to consider. He had found the separation more bearable with no contact. He was sure he was probably wrong, but he had long convinced himself he would not been able to deal with that school and all the shit that came with what he'd done to the frat without being the one waiting to be contacted.

As soon as he'd gotten injured he'd decided he'd try and find Ed. He couldn't come home during college summers, not after his dad had basically disowned him. He didn't go back to Peach Creek after the accident only because he'd gotten a position in his field so much faster than he thought he would. He'd spent his free summers volunteering and working in places that would better his chance of getting a good job and taking extra courses to further his job scope and in the end, his references had paid off.

He had been very happy to see Ed yesterday and even more so that he had wanted to hang out. Making love again had been more than he could have ever hoped for and being able to just sit and talk had almost made him giddy. Now he was in a very dark mood. Broody Kevin wasn't dead, he'd only been hiding behind how Ed's actions had made him feel. Eddy had managed to say the one thing he dreaded Ed bringing up. The thing he knew would make him lash out at Ed and turn the words back at the larger man. He would have been so happy if Ed had gotten in touch with him. He wanted to slug the short, solid Ed here and now but he knew that would cause some real problems, but he was having a hard time coming up with a proper retort.

"Ed invited me to his apartment," he finally said, "I didn't ask him to, he invited me." His throat and mouth suddenly seemed very dry. "You don't know what it's been like, man. You don't know me that well. You don't know how I felt all these years or what I was thinking." Kevin kept his tone low and neutral. He didn't feel angry so as much depressed now. Part of him wanted to flee; Ed was bound to notice his mood change. Brooding Kevin would worry Ed more than angry Kevin. He felt like throwing up. He muttered something about needing to take a piss and headed for the bathroom, hoping to figure out a way to get back to a happy neutral or at least get rid of the disheartened look.

It didn't quite work the way he'd planned it to though, as when Ed and Double D had finished in the kitchen Double D was on Eddy like a hawk, having heard the short confrontation, and Ed had beelined for the hallway with the intention of fixing whatever damage Eddy had done.

While Double D was busy putting Eddy in his place Ed was standing beside the bathroom door, just waiting for Kevin to come back out in case he really did have to use the toilet. He couldn't hear anything inside with the vent running, but that only served to worry him more. He refrained from knocking or calling through the door though, just in case.

Kevin had filled the sink with cold water and dipped his face in to try and soothe himself. He knew he was probably being stupid jumping so many steps ahead when a conversation had not even started about the 'why's of what had gone on between them. He couldn't help it. He'd thought about crap like that all his life to avoid conflict and keep his position and the peace. 

The truth was there had hardly been a spare moment he had not thought of Ed. He'd had to throw himself into his studies and the team just to quiet the thoughts. He knew it was stupid, they hadn't had a real relationship or anything and he was acting like they'd been together for years. He wished he knew why the thought of losing Ed again scared him so much, or why his body had to react so physically to these emotions. He pulled his face from the water and looked in the mirror. He wasn't crying nor had he felt like he was going to. That was one good thing. The sick feeling in his stomach, however, was still there. He could fake a smile but his eyes and voice he would never be able to completely mask. It didn't help that Ed had high empathy and a sort of sixth sense for when someone was faking. 

Running out or making an excuse about work tomorrow was not an option now. Ed would feel the change for sure if he tried that and if he ran Ed would surely follow and knock on every door until he found him. He had to stop acting like a child and just face this like a man and he knew it, even if it meant enduring the worst pain of his life. Getting over that had to be better than living with this. Kevin dried off and let the water out of the sink. He knew he couldn't keep doing this crap to himself.

He opened the door and almost walked into Ed. He looked up at his lover's face and immediately saw the concern in the other man's eyes. Ed looked just as scared as he had been. He felt his panic turn to anger at himself for scaring him. He shoved all the worries away for now and pulled the larger man down to his level to give him a quick kiss. "I'm alright now, Ed. I just had another one of my stupid attacks. I thought I was done letting myself do that, but I was wrong." He caressed the other's face gently. "How about that movie?" He couldn't help smiling; If Ed was concerned, then that meant Ed cared more about now than what could be than anything in the past now. "I just needed a moment to get myself out of that state and remember that I should be past doing that crap to myself." He knew Ed's expression had done more in those two seconds to bring him back to his senses than an hour's thinking in that bathroom alone could have done for him.

Ed was still watching him with deep concern in his eyes, his brow furrowed slightly. It was more dramatic a gesture than it had once been; Ed had apparently begun to take care of and trim the center of his unibrow, making him look a good deal more normal. He took one of Kevin's hands and leaned down, pressing his lips to his lover's forehead. He looked back toward the living room, where the others had fallen silent and were simply waiting for them to return.

He hadn't offered any words of encouragement, for he knew he didn't need to. Whatever he could have said could wait until later in the evening. For now, just being with Kevin he could tell was calming the other man down and for that, he was grateful. And more than that, he was happy that he could have such an effect, even this soon in the relationship.

"You're grooming," Kevin murmured, mostly to distract himself. He'd already noticed the change before but it'd been overshadowed by the sheer height the other man had reached. He knew it was going to take him a while to get used to this height difference. It was a bit embarrassing for him right now whenever Ed was forced to bend down to do things with him; he didn't connect it to being a child or anything as silly as that, but he did know that he would have to deal with being seen as the "chick" by some ignorant people. He managed to suppress the blush that wanted to form from the tender kiss and gripped Ed's hand to pull his lover towards the living room. "Let's watch that movie."

He could tell from the tension that Double D and Eddy had had a small tiff over what had just happened. He sat on the couch and was soon joined by Ed, at which point he resumed a similar position to the one he'd been in before the two other Eds had shown up as Double D started the movie. This time he rested his head against Ed's thigh so that he lowered his risk of any stray food hitting his face and made sure to tuck his hair behind his head.

Ed ignored the food for the time being though, just sitting back slouched into the couch with his fingers running through Kevin's hair. He ignored the look the other Eds gave the two of them in favor of starting the movie and letting Kevin do whatever he so chose.

Kevin leaned his head into the petting. He didn't care what the other two did at the moment, and he wasn't too happy with Eddy. He knew it was a valid concern, but he didn't like being set off again. He had thought he was past this, but he was wrong. He was still scared to death of losing Ed over some stupid mistake of the past. He leaned his head back to give Ed a small smirk to let him know he appreciated the attention. He reached up and stroked his lover's cheek gently. Ed went a step further and nipped the end of Kevin's thumb playfully, then looked over at Double D, who was still holding onto Eddy's hand but not really paying attention to him, apparently just trying to stare down the movie without hiding his face in his husband's shoulder. It looked like he wasn't having a very easy time of it though. Of course, just like Ed, Eddy was a little more perceptive than people seemed to think; He held Double D's hand a little tighter and leaned into him but he was far too self-conscious to outright hold Double D.

Kevin retracted his hand but grinned at Ed. He scooted his head fully into Ed's lap and nuzzled the hem of the larger man's shirt. He eventually worked his face underneath it and then planted the briefest of kisses directly above the hem of Ed's underwear before turning his face back to the movie. He knew not to push his lover too far but he couldn't help teasing Ed a little. He brought out a playful side in him that he liked indulging. He could see Double D's problem from his position in Ed's lap but knew better than to get involved. If Eddy wasn't going to notice, he saw no reason to say anything.

Ed, on the other hand, couldn't help but laugh and pull his stomach in as Kevin's lips tickled it. He tried to stay quiet but he still attracted stares from the other two. He tickled his fingers behind Kevin's ear then looked back at the tv without thinking much about it.

Kevin bit his lower lip to stifle a chuckle and gently grabbed the teasing hand to interlace Ed's fingers with his own. He held his lover's hand for a few minutes before he pressed his lips gently to it and slowly let go. He knew he better wait until the other two left to try much else or even think of teasing him further. He knew Ed would win that particular game in the end anyway and he was fine with that. The other man hadn't done anything to him that he hadn't liked, even when it had seemed strange at first.

He scooted back to his former position to give Ed the option of eating something if he wanted while still allowing the other to continue his gentle petting if he wished. He wasn't going to let the other two's presence keep him from bonding with his lover. He stayed on his side to try and watch the movie, hoping it was better than the one with the mutant fish.

Ed started picking at the bowl of popcorn Double D had helped him prepare (otherwise he likely would have over or undercooked it), occasionally feeding a kernel to Kevin as he watched the movie. This time it was your typical serial killer setup and Eddy was still silently trying to calm Double D without making a scene. Kevin was suppressing the urge to tell Eddy to stop trying to be sneaky and just do what he needed to; they were all in too close of quarters to do anything secretly anyway. He held his tongue though and sat up to lean his head against Ed's shoulder. He knew this one must be a newer movie. The violence looked more realistic than the last movie. He was starting to wish they were watching another old one. He didn't feel like laughing at this one. 

Ed could feel the slight change in Kevin's demeanor and took his hand, leaning his cheek against the top of Kevin's head and glancing over at Eddy and Double D. He laced his fingers between the other man's and yawned quietly. He loved B movies and preferred the koolaid blood and rubber innards over the realistic arterial splatter.

Kevin leaned closer suddenly when the killer began to hack into his victim as if butchering an animal. When he had been about to take a bite of the victim's heart, Kevin grabbed the remote with his free hand and stopped the movie. He had had enough. He was sure not to just pause it on that frame, but completely stop it so it would return to the bland DVD player screen. "I think we've all had enough of that movie, Ed." Kevin found he was trembling slightly. "Let's watch something else for a bit before we even think of finishing that one."

He kissed Ed lightly on the cheek and passed the remote towards the other two. "You guys pick something." He leaned fully into his lover and shut his eyes. He'd never choose one of those over a B movie, that was for sure. That had been much too real. He was happy to see that the channel had landed on what looked to be the game show network. No chance of running into anything even near what they'd just been watching. "That'll work."

Ed had been watching the movie with rapt attention until Kevin had finally turned it off, at which point he'd made a pathetic whining sound and pouted at the smaller man. He put his arm around Kevin's shoulders anyway and just listened as Eddy made a halfhearted attempt at bitching Kevin out. Everyone could tell that he was grateful Kevin had ended it though, since Double D had visibly relaxed when it was changed to The Price is Right.

"Don't whine at me like that, Ed. You know that was getting pretty bad." Kevin turned his lover's face towards him and kissed him briefly. "If he wasn't going to eat his victims I might have let it finish, but that was no Jello mold he was going to bite into." Kevin made a mock swooning motion and winked at Ed. He ignored Eddy's weak attempt at riling him up. He knew Eddy had been just as disturbed as he had been. "You aren't mad I stopped it, are you?" Kevin straddled both sides of the larger male's lap and playfully poked the center of his lover's chest gently and smiled.

Eddy made an outraged noise at being ignored and an even more perturbed sound as Kevin climbed into Ed's lap, huffing quietly then muttering about turning the movie back on just to make Kevin get down. Ed shook his head and pecked Kevin's nose before looking over at Eddy and offering a small, apologetic smile.

"Come on guys, you never liked sitting and watching my movies with me anyway."

"You can start it back if you really want to watch it, Eddy." Kevin looked over at the other two. "But that won't keep me from doing what I want to with my lover." He had felt his pulse quicken a little as he said the words. It seemed foreign somehow, and unreal to say such a thing. It made him feel a little giddy too. He knew he couldn't speak it just anywhere and it was exciting somehow to do it now. He kissed Ed briefly and stroked the larger male's face. "I can't seem to keep my hands off him right now," he admitted quietly unable to say that while looking directly at Ed.

As Ed blushed crimson, Eddy just growled at the both of them; at Kevin for having the balls to say something like that to him and do the things he was doing with Ed, and at the big Ed for not stopping it. Eddward put a calming hand on his arm though and looked back at Ed and Kevin.

"Even so, don't you think it's just a little inappropriate to...to _mount_ him when you've got company?"

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Mount him? I'm keeping the important stuff from touching, sitting like this is nothing. But since you two seem to mind..." He shifted and resumed laying his head in Ed's lap. "I don't see the problem with you two really, no windows in this room and all." He reached up to pat Ed's face. "Besides, if I really mounted him and got him that bothered, he'd have carried me off by now. Believe me." 

Ed's blush only deepened and he muttered, "Naughty..." in spite of the smile on his face, his hands resting on Kevin's sides until he moved. He sighed quietly and went back to combing his fingers through Kevin's hair tenderly.

"Oh would you two stop it already?" Eddy barked, grimacing at them and ignoring Double D's requests for him to be quiet.

Ed, on the other hand, finally seemed to get fed up with the other man's attitude and, for the first time in years, stood up for himself. He stood, looking down at Eddy with his hands lax at his sides. His bangs fell out of his ponytail and in front of his face, casting it part in shadow as he growled, "Eddy, I've listened to you and done as you said and never complained because you're my best friend but this has ta stop. You guys aren't the only people in my life anymore that give a damn about me. This is my house and Kevin is my lover and I never once said anything about you two being together so why should you have a problem with me, or with him?" He gestured to Kevin on the couch before continuing to his gaping friends, "Now, either you can just be happy for us and go back to being happy together or you can go home and leave me alone because I'm not going to let you drive Kevin away, or drive us apart."

The silence was deafening when he finished, Eddy's face blank as if he couldn't process the fact that Ed had spoken to him in such a way. Double D looked similarly shocked, but definitely impressed.

Kevin stared at Ed, his mouth slightly open. He sat up on the couch and turned a little red from his lover's outburst. He felt his nagging doubts melt at the words and he couldn't help standing to hug the other male from behind. He pressed his face into Ed's back and held him tightly. He understood now that the separation had caused them both great pain throughout it and he needed to just listen to Ed instead of the stupid dark thoughts his mind liked to whip up. His heart hurt a little from the words but it wasn't because they were a bad thing for Ed to say; on the contrary, Kevin had never felt more wanted in all his life. He had thought he was happy yesterday at finding Ed again and then making love, but those events paled in comparison to this. He felt kind of silly getting all emotional over the simple words, but he couldn't help feeling this way. He almost felt like crying. He swallowed a few times before trying to speak. "Thanks..." he managed to say in barely more than a whisper. He wanted to say so much more, but he still had trouble putting all these feelings to words and laying it all out in the open. Physical actions had always been his strong suit, not words.

Ed lifted a hand and laid it over one of Kevin's, lacing his fingers between the other man's and squeezing down as he faced down his friends, both of whom still seemed completely taken aback by the force and eloquence with which Ed had spoken. They never expected him to be able to say or do things like this and while it was magnificent, it was extremely off-putting.

Finally, Eddy seemed to recover and there were red splotches blooming across his cheeks with rage.

"Fine," he snarled, "if you want to choose this idiot jock over your best friends, fine. Come on D, we're leaving." He jerked his thumb toward the door and stood, waiting for Double D to join him before wrenching it open and stomping through. Double D looked back at them nervously, then glanced at Eddy once before running back to Ed and giving him a quick hug.

"I'm proud of you, Ed," he murmured before scurrying away.

"You sure you're okay just letting Eddy go like that? I mean those two seem to be having their own problems if how they acted tonight is any clue," Kevin said after Double Dee he departed, taking up a position in front of him with his arms around the larger man's middle. He kept the grip on Ed's hand. Kevin knew he was blushing now. He swallowed a few times and looked up at Ed, unsure of how to reciprocate such an action. His feeble thanks a moment ago were laughable in this situation. He yearned to say so much more, but he was still afraid of speaking the words, as if just saying them once might cheapen them every time they would be repeated after. He embraced Ed from the front this time, clinging tightly with his free hand to his lover's waist. "I don't know how to..." He pressed his face into Ed's chest, hoping that the other understood.

Ed only smiled, laying his hands on either side of Kevin's jaw and turning his head up, pressing his lips to the smaller man's and lingering there for a long moment. He felt strangely calm, warm and just generally content as he leaned his cheek against the side of Kevin's head.

Kevin leaned into Ed as they kissed and tightened his arms around him. He was feeling very giddy and lightheaded. "You're awesome," he whispered when the kiss ended. "What do you want to do now?" He rubbed his cheek against his lover's gently.

"I think food is in order," Ed grinned and pressed his lips to Kevin's forehead lightly before pulling away and heading for the kitchen. He yanked open his freezer door and plunged his hand inside, digging around and coming up with a massive bag of pizza rolls. Frost dropped off the bag and melted on the floor as he turned around and tossed the rolls onto the opposite counter.

"Yeah I'm pretty much starving now." Kevin heard and felt his stomach plead with him for something more sustainable than the last offering. He followed Ed to the kitchen and pulled a couple of plates from the cabinet. "Oven or Microwave?" he asked as he approached the other man intent on either helping set the microwave or keeping a watch on the time spent and temperature set with the oven.

"Microwave," Ed said matter-of-factly as he dumped a heap of the little pizza rolls onto a plate, pointing down at the sign on the oven with giant letters "NO" scribbled on it. "I almost burned this apartment down after I first moved in trying to bake something and the landlord made me promise not to cook anymore," he explained.

"That bites. I'll bring something next time I come over." Kevin turned his head to the side wondering how'd he missed that earlier but shrugged it off as having been too focused on trying to make something out of the meager resources. After consulting the package a time was set and Kevin leaned against the counter to wait for the beep and shut his eyes. He knew he was still smirking but he didn't care. His peaceful disposition was soon interrupted though as Ed dragged his broad tongue up along Kevin's cheek with a sound like "Mlaaaah", smiling brightly and leaning on the smaller man's shoulder.

"Aw, Ed!" Kevin pressed his hand to the other male's face gently away and wiped his own with his arm. He should have known it wasn't safe to close his eyes around a clearly bored Ed. He was glad it wasn't something more teasing, which Ed was decidedly good at without trying. "Okay, come here." Kevin hopped up to sit on the counter and kissed his lover briefly. "Do what you want until the microwave goes off." He knew saying that could be a mistake, but he knew Ed had yet to do anything he really disliked or made him uncomfortable and they didn't have but around 10 minutes anyway.

Ed gave a low, dark chuckle and looped his arms loosely around Kevin's waist, dipping down and dragging his tongue along the rope of tendon up the side of Kevin's neck. He bit in gently just below the smaller man's ear then kissed the damp spot lightly. His hands began to wander up the back of the other man's shirt, pulling him forward gently.

Kevin let out a gasp and a moan as Ed began to take full advantage of the situation. He wrapped his legs around Ed's waist and pulled him closer to the counter. He should have know his lover was going to do something like this but he just smirked and let Ed do as he pleased. "You going to try and beat the clock, huh? I think you're doing pretty well so far." 

"I like a challenge," Ed grinned as he bit down a little harder then began to suck a light bruise into the pale, already marked-up skin of his lover's neck. He pulled Kevin forward and rolled into him more firmly, smirking at the other man as his hands roamed back down and cupped Kevin's ass.

"I can see that," Kevin panted as Ed upped the ante. He could feel his pants already growing uncomfortable and he went ahead and undid them to relieve some of the pressure. "I'm thinking you're probably going to make me end up with mess to clean up." The smaller man smirked at his lover, "Just make any of the better marks under the shirt, Ed. I don't want anything on my neck that could be seen tomorrow afternoon, please." He knew he better add the please or Ed might just keep marking his claim anyway just to playfully spite him.

Ed made a disappointed sound and pulled back just barely, looking up at Kevin then nodding a little. He could understand Kevin's concern but it didn't make it any easier to keep himself from just marking up every free area of skin he could. He slipped his hand forward beneath Kevin's and pushed it aside, teasing his fingers along hardening flesh. "You don't really look like you have much of a problem with it..."

"Nah...not really," Kevin panted and let out a moan. He swallowed and leaned his head on his lover's shoulder. He knew he'd have to reciprocate this somehow after they ate. He gripped the edge of the counter and was glad that the other male was standing in front of him. He leaned forward to rest his head on Ed's shoulder and let his hot breath hit his lover's neck. "Almost...there..." He swallowed and shut his eyes.

Ed smiled, highly amused by how worked up Kevin could get around him. He gripped down tighter and ran his thumb across the tender pink flesh, smearing clear fluid across it as he latched back down on the other man's neck. He continued to grip Kevin's ass with his free hand, kneading it slowly with every stroke.

Kevin arched his back and shuddered. His breath was coming out in even pants and he was feeling a little lightheaded. "Ed...I'm..." He barely managed to warn as he felt the waves of pleasure begin as he let loose his modest load. He leaned into Ed and couldn't help chuckling a little. He'd heard the microwave beep.

Ed managed to keep most of the sticky fluid in his hand as he lifted it up off of Kevin, moving it quickly over the sink and standing back up straight to look his lover in the face. He chuckled quietly and nipped at the end of the other man's nose before moving away to let him rearrange himself. He washed his hands then looked at the bag of pizza rolls, scanning down the instructions then glancing at the microwave.

"Well, we were supposed to let them sit for a little while..."

Kevin managed to settle down and wash up. He still felt more sensitive than usual, but he was enjoying the afterglow. "Yeah, I don't want a repeat of the mouth burning incident." He could tell that Ed wasn't unaffected by what they'd just done and the smaller male smirked. He came over to his lover from behind to playfully wrap his arms around him and groped Ed's partially aroused manhood. "Want me to take care of that?" Kevin asked playfully.

Ed let a small, amused sound and leaned back, looking over his shoulder and smirking a bit. "After dinner," he said then turned around in Kevin's arms and reached for the microwave. He took out the food and set it aside before once more wrapping his arms around Kevin's middle and gripping down on his backside.

Kevin gasped but smirked. "That's no fun." He teased and pressed his lips to Ed's neck. "But if that's what you want I'm not gonna say no." He was a little unsteady on his feet, a lingering effect of the orgasm. He managed to turn around to face Ed and leaned into him. It wasn't that he didn't want to let his lover continue to tease him, he just preferred not to get too far before they even ate. "You keep going like this and we won't eat, you know." He reached up to stroke Ed's cheek and hair gently. He was going to be sad to leave tomorrow, but he didn't feel nearly as bad as six years ago. This time he wasn't going away and they would be able to spend more time together soon.

Ed just nodded and leaned down to peck his lips once more before pulling away, grabbing the plate of rolls and nodding his head back toward the living room. "Come on, let's watch another movie. We can pick back up later." He grinned and strutted a little as he went back to the couch, flopping down onto it so fast the rolls seemed to float up off of the plate briefly before landing in their pile once more.

Kevin smirked and quickly joined him. "I hope this one's not like that last one. I'd rather watch a marathon of your classic stuff than one of those right now." He'd made sure to bring some napkins from the kitchen and there were still plenty of drinks from earlier. They'd have to clean up before moving to anything else though, unless they went back to Ed's bedroom. "How long do you think sourpuss'll stay mad at you?" Kevin doubted Eddy could stand a lifelong separation. He valued his friends too much for that. He wasn't going to count on any kind of apology though and didn't really feel like he needed one.

"He'll come around," Ed assured him, "Double D was really good for him. And he's really good at bringing Eddy around to his frame of mind. They'll come back within a few days, definitely." Ed smiled brightly and popped three of the rolls into his mouth, chewing contently as he looked through the rest of his stack of movies, grinning at an older title. Not a B movie, but an old one with obviously fake gore nonetheless. He headed for the dvd player once more and opened the case that he hadn't let Kevin see, popping the disc in and grinning as he skipped from the trailers to the main menu of the first Hellraiser movie. "How's that?"

"That works." Kevin smirked and ate a few of the pizza rolls. He laid his head against Ed's shoulder and they began to watch the classic horror. He knew that while he didn't care for the newer gore of some of the movies Ed would want to watch, he could sit and enjoy a classic with the other without complaint. This was just part of being in a relationship, sharing your interests with your partner and in turn putting them through your own. Kevin doubted that they'd have much trouble meshing their hobbies. It wasn't like he liked going antiquing. He started snickering about the thought of Ed and him going to a pottery barn or an antique fair and couldn't seem to stop himself for a minute or two. Ed just watched him laugh until he calmed down, staring at him then shaking his head and chuckling as well as he leaned his cheek against the top of Kevin's head. He watched the dull first scenes of the family moving into their new house, of the woman looking through the photos, and yawned quietly. It would take a little bit before the movie got really good and he hoped that Kevin wouldn't get too bored and decide to go to sleep in the middle of the movie.

"Sorry, man. I had a ridiculous thought for a moment." Kevin chuckled a little more before finally settling down and calming himself. "I was just thinking about how our different interests don't seem to be much of a problem and I got the image of us doing something weird for a minute." He leaned into Ed and popped a few more rolls. The movie was starting slowly but he didn't mind, it was a better one than the last and he'd seen this one before. That and he didn't want to fall asleep with the prospect of something fun later hanging over them.

"You're ridiculous," Ed laughed and nuzzled Kevin's cheek, looking up in time to see the blood pattering to the floor that would bring back the monster. He sat up a bit and started paying attention, his arm still wrapped firmly around Kevin's waist as they pecked away at the pizza rolls. It was good that there were a lot of them, given how fast and steadily they were working through them.

Kevin smirked at the remark and kissed the corner of Ed's mouth where a little sauce had ended up. "I'm only like this around you." Kevin considered having a few more of the rolls but decided against it. He didn't want to eat enough to get sleepy, nor feel too full to do anything after the movie. "I'll bet you like it when I'm like this."

"Absolutely." Ed grinned even more widely and put his plate aside, wrapping his other arm around Kevin's middle and pulling the smaller man onto him. He nipped at the other's lip playfully and glanced back at the movie as he lay back comfortably on the couch. Kevin pressed himself against Ed and smirked, enjoying the contact. He was getting used to being held by the larger man.

"Well I'm glad because I don't think I'll stop acting like this anytime soon." He turned back to the movie and relaxed in his lover's embrace. He hoped they'd have more moments like this; he was enjoying how they made him feel.

"Good," Ed sighed and laid his head back against the arm of the couch, stretching out more across the cushions and propping his ankles up at the other end, letting Kevin lie comfortably between his legs with his head against his chest. He stroked his hand up and down the length of the smaller man's spine, thinking in the back of his mind that they were both probably comfortable enough to go to sleep as they were.

Kevin wrapped his arms around Ed and pressed his face to the other's chest for a moment before turning back to the movie. He smiled as he listened to Ed's breathing and heartbeat. Those sounds and gentle stroking of his back were making him sleepy, even with the movie going. "I like it, but you're making me sleepy, man," he finally yawned. He pressed his face into the larger man's chest for a moment and breathed deeply. In their childhood he wouldn't have done this even for a million dollars but now that Ed was taking better care of himself and that their relationship had changed, he reveled in being this close to his lover. Ed still didn't exactly smell like spring daisies, but indeed since he'd started taking better care of himself and showering regularly, he at least smelled clean, which was a lot more than he could have said when he was in middle school. He ran his fingers through Kevin's hair thoughtfully, still watching the movie. "You fall asleep on me and I'll make sure you get really woke up later," he teased.

"You will, huh?" Kevin smirked at his lover. "And what would you do, Ed?" He could feel his own heart rate rise at the playful threat. He enjoyed this little game they had going on. The teasing, both physical and verbal, was intoxicating. He knew in a way it might seem sick after all the real threats they had been through in that hellhole of a college, but something about this play was easing that painful past and allowing him to open himself to this wonderful here and now. He moved up Ed's chest until he could press his face to the other man's. "What would you do?"

Ed's left brow arched up slightly as he leaned his cheek against Kevin's before turning his head to touch the tip of his nose to the other man's, smiling contently. He decided he would keep being an awful tease though. "I think I'll let you go to sleep just so I can surprise you later."

"You're a monster, Ed." Kevin teased and gave his lover a quick kiss. He shifted back down a bit to lay his head on Ed's chest again. The playful threat excited him. He usually wanted to know what to expect in any given situation, but around Ed he was enjoying the unpredictability of their game. He doubted he'd ever become bored of it. "I just might let you surprise me." He relaxed and watched the movie again, the warmth of his lover's body and the sound of his breathing relaxing him further. It wasn't long before he fell asleep.

Ed just laughed once more and combed his fingers through Kevin's hair tenderly, watching the movie as it got toward the climax but eventually he started to drift off as well. He'd seen the movie so many times he could predict everything and in any case he'd gotten so comfortable by then that he was starting to drift off as well. He was nearly asleep when the movie finally ended and he was sweating a bit from how long Kevin had been laying on him. He picked up the smaller man bridal-style very slowly, making sure not to wake him as he carried him back toward the bedroom. He would get the plate they'd left behind in the morning.

He laid Kevin out and just left his clothes on, curling up behind him with his arms around Kevin's waist, spooning against his back. In the morning, he would pull something but for now, he was enjoying just being able to snuggle.

When Kevin woke up sometime around 7 am, he felt very comfortable in the warm embrace of his lover and ignored that fact that he must have been carried in there. He carefully slid out Ed's arms to use the restroom. He went ahead and showered and brushed his teeth to get rid of the gnarly morning breath the pizza rolls had given him. He was sure to dry off before he walked into the living room. He spotted the plate and shook his head, smiling a little. "Ed," he said softly and washed the plate in the kitchen. He decided he'd rather go back to sleep than wait possibly hours for the other to awaken. Besides, he had to go in for orientation this afternoon and he wasn't in a hurry to part from the other male.

He smiled at the peaceful face of his lover when he reentered the room. He carefully resumed the position Ed had had him in before he had woken up and cuddled against him. He soon fell back to sleep, grateful that Ed no longer snored quite as loudly as he used to.

Ed woke up not soon after Kevin had dozed off again, smelling the toothpaste on his breath and realizing that Kevin had to have woken up some time before. He sighed quietly but smiled and pressed his lips to the back of the other man's neck, making his slow way down and moving smoothly to keep from shaking the bed and waking him up before it was necessary. He gave the smaller man's hip a small bite then nuzzled down further, into his groin as his hand ran up along the other side, fingers just barely edging into Kevin's boxers.

Kevin didn't wake up but made a small noise as he shifted a little and tried to press himself closer to his lover, his body on autopilot. Ed made a quiet, amused sound as he mouthed along Kevin's as-of-yet limp shaft slowly, holding him still with his free arm and moving slowly with him. He licked just under the smaller man's navel then back down to the hem of his shorts, nipping there before delving in just a little lower and exhaling a warm, moist breath over the flesh therein. Kevin let out a small moan and squirmed a little in his sleep. He wrapped his arms around Ed's head after feeling the warm breath and attempted to hug his lover's face to him. He sleepily mumbled something but still did not stir.

Ed's smile only grew as he tried to tease Kevin in his sleep, still holding Kevin loosely as he dragged his shorts down just enough to expose him. He skimmed his lips over the smaller man's skin, nuzzling into his groin once more then flitting his tongue along the underside. He dipped one hand down inside and cupped Kevin's sac, gripping gently and massaging behind it. Kevin shuddered a little and let out another little moan as he shifted his legs a bit. He gripped the sheets for a moment, gently, but still didn't fully awaken. He mumbled his lover's name and attempted shifted his hips forward some. Ed could tell that Kevin would wake up soon and so intensified his teasing, taking Kevin fully into his mouth and giving a long, slow suck. He enjoyed the way the man squirmed and let go of his hold, still massaging Kevin's groin between strong sucks.

Kevin let out a loud gasp and then a small sound between a whine and a yelp as he jerked awake. The heat was building in his groin and he shook the sleep off only to be greeted by Ed's playfully aggressive face as he teased his cock with his mouth and hands. "E...Ed..." Kevin said as his breath hitched a little. He found it so hard to remain still while his lover did this. It was pleasurable, insanely so, but it was that very intensity that made it so hard to bear. He gripped the sheets hard and tried to suppress the urge to move away, hoping he wouldn't have to tell his lover to pin him down. He didn't know if his ego would allow him to do that; he couldn't completely abandon his pride around Ed yet and wasn't sure if the other man would want him to.

Ed knew Kevin's signs reasonably well by now and wrapped his arms around the smaller man's legs, holding him a little more still as he went down until his nose touched down in the hair around Kevin's groin, his head bobbing slowly as he gave harder, slower sucks and continued to tease with his fingertips. He made a quiet, low humming sound in the back of his throat and moved with every thrust of the other man's hips.

Kevin was grateful for Ed's grip on his legs; if the former actions weren't enough to make him squirm away, the humming most certainly was. He was trying to keep his breathing even, but the intensity of the sensation and his steadily building arousal was making it difficult. He wanted to cover his face and hide the color he knew was there but he also knew that covering his eyes only made the actions that much more intense. Seeing his lover down on him made his body react in such pleasant yet almost agonizing ways. Any time he'd shut or covered his eyes the sensations seemed to become more extreme somehow, as if watching them dulled it just a little. Though he knew it could just be the thoughts that tended to pop up whenever he did look away from Ed...whenever his mind could still form them.

"So...good..." he moaned and carefully leaned up to stroke Ed's hair, his body quivering with need as he watched the larger man tease him.

Ed's eyes turned up at the sound of Kevin's voice, his mouth pulling into a small smile around the other man then lifting up off him to look him in the face. He leaned up enough to press his lips to Kevin's, his hands still keeping a firm hold on the other's legs. He lifted Kevin up and held him in place, his hair falling in curtains to hide their faces from view. He didn't panic when Ed had lifted him; it had surprised him but he was beyond thinking he could overpower the man physically. That and he saw no need to try as long as what Ed did to him felt good. He knew he was helpless at the moment but he saw no reason not to trust his lover. He had yet to betray that trust after all. He had no doubt Ed would stop at anytime if he were asked to.

"Easy to please," he chuckled and touched the tip of his nose to Kevin's lightly.

"You better hope I stay that way." Kevin smirked and returned the playful gesture by rubbing his nose against his lover's. "I'd hate to see what would happen if either of us got bored." 

"Oh but I've got tricks up my sleeve so neither of us are gonna get bored in a hurry," Ed grinned, tightening his grip on Kevin's backside and rolling his hips into the smaller man's, leaning down and burying his face against his lover's neck.

Then he froze at a growling from his stomach, blinking then looking at Kevin and resuming his pleasurable torture. At least, until the sound came again.

"Eh...how do you feel about breakfast before we pick back up...?"

Kevin almost screamed at Ed about being too far along for that but he managed to force himself to just shut his eyes as if thinking. "You better let go and get off me now if you want any chance of that," he had managed to reply calmly but was panting a little. He remembered the last time they'd got derailed this far in had been the hospital but he shoved those memories aside. "Let's eat before I change my mind."

Ed just shook his head and put a hand to Kevin's chest, pushing him back onto the bed and kissing him almost savagely, pulling away and leaving the other man flustered before heading out for the kitchen. There was a rattling from the direction of the fridge, then the popping of a can and for a few moments, silence. The sink ran for another moment, then the sound of spitting, the sink shutting off, and Ed crept back down the hall toward the bedroom. He waited until he was sure Kevin had distracted himself before taking two fast, long and near silent steps toward the bed and shoved Kevin down into the pillows face-first. He leaned down over him, the smell of chocolate on his breath as he pressed damp, slightly cool lips along the back of the other man's neck and over his shoulder. His hands wandered along the curves of Kevin's sides to his stomach and lower, grinning in his renewed fervor.

"Hey!" Kevin half yelled as he was shoved down into the pillows. He calmed down when Ed's lips touched his neck. He turned his head to the side to get his face out of the pillows. "Not much of a breakfast, huh?" He smirked at his lover and knew he would undoubtedly keep surprising him in this relationship.

"More than I need to get back to you," Ed purred as he wrapped his hand once more around Kevin's groin, tugging gently and teasing, squeezing down and giving him long, slow strokes as his teeth and tongue tormented the smaller man's neck.

Kevin shuddered and attempted to roll over or at least get up on his knees. He managed to get on all fours but he didn't attempt to turn over for the moment. He leaned back into Ed until moved until he managed to get himself between his lover's legs. If Ed wanted to tease him like this, he could at least have a say in the position. No way was he going to be face down for this kind of thing. 

Ed stopped long enough to let Kevin turn himself around, looking down at him with a small smile then leaning down to press his lips to the smaller man's lightly. He resumed the slow, tight stroking of one hand as the other ran up and down the length of Kevin's back. He once more lifted Kevin's hips up and pressed into them, teasing him that way as well.

Kevin moaned louder as Ed upped the teasing. "If you want to take me," he managed to say between breaths, "you probably need to soon." He knew if his lover took it much further than this, he probably wouldn't be able to stop himself from letting loose. He smirked nonetheless. Ed made no reply though. Instead, he just stuck two of his fingers into Kevin's mouth slowly, playing with the end of his tongue for a few moments before drawing away and replacing the digits with his own tongue and without warning, he slipped first one finger, then both into the tight (though they were slowly growing more loose over time) confines of his lover's body. He repositioned himself for more stability over the smaller man's body, the muscles along his core and back flexing and straining to keep him upright.

Kevin moved a bit to try and give him a better angle as they kissed. Their prep was still awkward as hell for him but he bore it knowing the result would be pleasurable in the end. He reminded himself again to bring lube next time and that made him think of something else. He gently pulled away from the kiss for a moment.

"Don't you dare fucking stop after I say this..." Kevin locked his eyes onto Ed's. "I still want you to fuck me but don't get too rough. I have to go in later to get shown around." He pulled his lover's face back down to his own and slipped his tongue in this time.

_Oh right, orientation._ Ed thought, nodding some as he sealed his lips once more against Kevin's and pushed into him slowly, his hips giving one fluid roll as he pulled Kevin down into him more firmly. He gave a quiet groan and smiled against the other's lips, one hand gripping down at the base of his shaft and stroking in a long, milking motion toward the head. Kevin winced but managed to force himself to relax fairly quickly. He knew the sooner he could stop fighting back against the intrusion, the better. He concentrated on the kiss and the pleasurable sensations from the stroking of his erection, which helped keep him from focusing on the still foreign sensation of being penetrated. 

Kevin let out a moan as soon as he felt Ed had fully entered him and shifted just a little to give him a better angle to thrust in. He locked lips with his lover once more before parting to begin moving his hips to encourage Ed.

Ed maintained a slow, steady thrust, the force of which grew minutely every moment until once more the slap of skin was audible. He panted quietly against the smaller man's neck, smiling faintly when he pulled up just enough to look Kevin in the face. He pressed his lips into the other's then licked up over them, his arms still around Kevin's legs and holding him in place. He tried to maintain his grip on the leaking muscle in his hand but it slipped every so often, making the pace that much more sporadic.

Kevin was hardly aware of anything other than Ed's thrusting when it touched that tender bundle of nerves and the feeling of their two bodies colliding. He was barely able to gasp out a warning when he felt himself go over the edge to begin to ride those pleasant waves that he'd been upon so many times these past few days. His lover was still thrusting towards his own conclusion but in this state that seemed to happening elsewhere. He couldn't really form anything that could be called a thought. All he knew was the wonderful feelings passing through him at the moment and he hoped that they wouldn't end anytime soon.

Before long Ed had reached his own end, writhing slightly in the same pleasure Kevin was holding onto. He relaxed after long enough, falling with his face buried against the smaller man's shoulder. He stayed still for a few moments longer then eased out of him slowly, propping himself on his arms and smiling down at him contently.

"Hey, might wanna go shower so you can go in..."

"Yeah..." Kevin slowly left his lover's embrace and headed for the bathroom, still shaky in the aftereffects of the orgasm. He hated to leave Ed, but he knew life had to go on. It wasn't like he was leaving town or anything. 

After washing up he redressed and knew he'd have to go back to his place soon to get fresh clothes on and head on to work. He came out of the bathroom, intent on saying goodbye to his lover and wondering how the time apart would feel thing time.

Ed met him in the doorway, the smaller man nearly colliding with his chest. He tipped his fingers under Kevin's chin and turned it up, pressing his lips to the others lightly before stepping around him to take a shower himself. He called out before Kevin could leave, "If you stop by here after your thing I can help you with your stuff at your apartment."

"I'll keep that in mind if I'm not tired afterwards. I'll give you a call if I'm not stopping by." Kevin smiled, part of him wanting another shower just to be with Ed a bit longer but the rest telling him he'd never leave ever if he didn't go now. There wasn't the pain of the last parting, but the longing however was still there. The smaller man shook the feeling off and headed for the door. "Later," he called back towards the bathroom, after retrieving the green jacket and his other belongings, and headed out.

He walked slowly back to his car. He knew it had only been a few days, but it had seemed like so much longer somehow. He unlocked the driver's side door and sat for a moment reflecting back on all that had happened between the two of them. Not just the reunion, but even further back too. He put the key in the ignition and headed for his own apartment. He had to put these past few days aside for a moment and get the rest of his life in order.


	7. Epilogue

Life went on, as life often does, with the successes and failures of men holding them in tentative stability. Ed kept his job, stayed in the same position for months, but his commission rates nearly doubled, keeping himself and Kevin comfortable. Their separate apartments stayed separate, but over time more and more of Ed's belongings managed to migrate into Kevin's domain, and likewise the smaller man's clothes ended up at Ed's more often than not.

The other two Eds slowly calmed down, came to accept them (Eddy rather grudgingly) and the night they found themselves seated around the same large booth, one couple facing the other, Eddy and Eddward were observing Ed and Kevin closely. The two still seemed amazingly close; they would have thought that the two would have gotten so used to one-another by now that they wouldn't want to be quite so...snuggly. But they were, and Ed always had a smile on even when he was stressing out over his job, or whether one of his systems was bluescreening.

Kevin had managed to secure a typical 9-5 job with a range of responsibilities at a rather popular fitness center. He'd managed to fully unpack with Ed's help and even consented to installing a few of Ed's favorite games to his own PC to partake in his lover's online fun. Not as often as the other might have liked, but Kevin didn't get the same enjoyment out of it. He was just doing it when he felt like it. He had wondered if the heat of the relationship would die down as time passed but he found that now they were just as passionate as ever and he was going to enjoy it as long as it lasted. He still felt the most at ease when he and Ed were in close quarters and he didn't care if anyone noticed how closely they were sitting. He didn't feel like he had anyone to answer to except for the man beside him, not even the two before him. He was managing to confine himself to what was advisable in public. He didn't want to attract more attention than necessary.

"Thanks for finally coming out with us guys," Ed was saying to his friends, one of which shrugged nonchalantly while the other just shook his head, smiling his large, warm gap-toothed smile.

"We'd been planning this for a week, Ed. Of course we would meet with you for dinner." Double D wouldn't say it, but both he and Eddy had really missed hanging out with Ed, even with Kevin there.

"Yeah, thanks guys." Kevin smirked. He didn't feel as close to the two, but he knew their company made Ed very happy and anything that made Ed happy was worth his indulgence. "I'm glad we can put the past aside and act like adults for a while." He didn't care if he was ever fully accepted by both of them, as long as Ed still forgave him for who he had been and accepted him now for who he had become.

Ed? Act like an adult? Perish the thought. As such, Ed leaned over and blew a thin stream of cold air into Kevin's ear, chuckling quietly. "Besides, it's food. I think we can all behave for food for a little while right?"

Eddy rolled his eyes not for the first time that night but smiled a little as he got to watch Kevin squirm.

"Right." Kevin felt a little color creep into his face. He wasn't sure why but he had been less and less able to keep the blush off of his face as time went on. He knew it was probably just him giving up trying to hide his emotions. It wasn't like Ed couldn't force them out of him in the end anyway. He suppressed the urge to return Ed's play or shoot Eddy a dirty look. He didn't feel like being the catalyst in making this night go badly or making the other two more uncomfortable than necessary.

"How are you two doing anyway?"

Ed let up on his teasing as the food came, steaming and smelling like heaven. The Italian place had definitely been the right decision. Edd had even sprung for wine, placing the bottle on its own little coaster in the middle of the table then waiting for their glasses before having any poured. Ed smiled brightly and speared a thick ravioli on his fork without hesitation. Eddy once more shrugged at Kevin's question.

"Same old, I guess. Managed to get moved to a new department after that fistfight with Andy in maintenance," the shortest Ed said nonchalantly, ignoring the rather exasperated sound from his left.

"You walk away from it?" Kevin couldn't help smirking a little. Though the memories of college weren't pleasant, he could at least say he walked away from all the fights he was in and usually left the other guy laid flat or at least dazed enough not to want to continue. "Chill out, Double Dee, sometimes you have to defend yourself."

He tried a forkful of his own pasta and was pleased. The wine wasn't something he usually partook of but it wasn't unpleasant.

Ed chuckled quietly at the recollection then listened as Eddy told the story or his argument with one of his coworkers, embellishing his part in it to make him look like more of the victim. He had apparently been getting fried for who he was married to a day after Double D had come in to drop off a few things that Eddy had forgotten that day at home and the subsequent fight, while Eddy had been put down on the ground once, had ended with the other man, Andy, in a headlock, turning purple until security arrived. Double D once more shook his head, though he couldn't help but smile a bit. Eddy's bravado was both stupid and endearing to him.

"Choice." Kevin smirked a little. He didn't care that Eddy had exaggerated; war stories weren't meant to be told without exaggeration. He gently touched his elbow to Ed's for a moment. He was happy that for the moment their positions were secure and there was little danger of discovery. Kevin doubted his job would be in jeopardy though, even if he were outed. He'd seen enough guys in the gym to know that he wasn't the only one there that preferred his own gender. He was lucky enough to have a personality that didn't fit that stereotype though. He didn't want to start getting hit on.

"What about you, Double D? Anything new on your front?" He doubted Ed would be too much for conversation until he had cleaned his plate. He had at least managed to get the larger male to stop talking with his mouth full.

"I'm close to becoming one of the partners at the firm," Eddward said a tad shyly, his pride evident in his small smile but it was obvious he didn't want to boast about the position. Eddy did that for him though.

"That's right, his name, _our_ name is going to be on the site, on his building, and the letterhead and everything. And his pay's gonna go even higher," Eddy bragged, clapping the littlest Ed on the shoulder.

"Good for you two." Kevin nodded and finished off his pasta. The difference in income didn't bother the former bully of the cul de sac. As long as he had enough to live off of, he was pretty happy. He wasn't jealous of the success of the two but the "our" reminded him just how far along the other pair was in their relationship. Kevin wasn't really sure how he felt about marriage really and the thought of bringing it up with Ed just made him feel awkward. There was something scary about marriage in a way and love, deep love, was intimidating enough as it was. As long as their relationship showed no signs of breaking down and they didn't seem to be drifting apart, he was content to let things be. He didn't want to push into anything, especially something he was himself unsure of.

Edd was looking between the two of them, reading part of Kevin's thoughts in his face. He wrapped his hand around Eddy's wrist, looking over at him then back at Ed, who had finally finished off his food. The big Ed wiped his mouth and draped his arm around Kevin's shoulders, pulling the smaller man against him comfortably. "You guys better actually come and visit me one of these days so we don't have to bribe you with food next time."

"Ed, we visited with you last week," Double D reminded him.

"Oh yeah..."

Kevin suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and just chuckled instead as he leaned into the embrace. The lug might be forgetful but he was his big forgetful lover and for all his quirks he still couldn't imagine life without him. He was surprised that Ed had yet to really get on his nerves. As kids he remembered Ed's antics could sometimes rival Eddy's in pissing him off. Now it was so different; Ed had really mellowed him out and for that, among other things, he was grateful.

"I worry about your memory sometimes, Ed," he smirked and reached over to ruffle and then smoothed his lover's hair.

"He did play football from high school on so it doesn't surprise me that his brains have been rattled around a little on top of rotting them with comics," Eddy mentioned offhand, smirking a little as Ed grinned, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.

"Yeah, getting tackled isn't exactly good for your health," Kevin chuckled then winced a little at the memory of the last time he was on a field. He was glad that it had been during training and not after making it or playing for a while. Getting injured and outed in his first ever game at that level would have sucked more than leaving without ever making it. That's how he felt about it at least. Plus he had been looking for a logical reason to quit ever since he had made it to training camp. Ed had wanted him to go as far as he could, but his heart had no longer been in being famous. To tell the truth, it never had been.

"I'm glad I got out before I got a concussion." He was also grateful that his knee injury wasn't worse. Truth be told he might have let it rest enough now that he could be cleared to play again. The doctors had only told him it would risky at the time of the injury, not how it might turn out if he took himself out of the game for this long. The injury only bothered him rarely in bad weather and even then it wasn't serious pain. He leaned his head against Ed's shoulder.

"Yes, statistically there are more brain injuries in football than any other sport, the last time I checked," Double D nodded, watching the two of them across the table and giving a small smile, his eyes darting around briefly. He wasn't afraid of anything specifically happening to them, but he'd had enough experience since coming out and being with Eddy to make him wary of the general population, even more so than he had already been.

Ed ignored it for the most part though, just wrapping his arm more securely around Kevin's neck, his hand patting lightly on the smaller man's chest. "Yeah, we don't need more than one of me around."

"Yeah, I think one is plenty." Kevin put his hand over Ed's and gave it a squeeze. The world, he knew, was not yet fully welcoming to the idea of their relationship. Not as much because of who they were, but because they didn't conform to the so called normal one girl, one guy relationship. There was always the risk of retribution for any public display, but the booth was pretty private and the night was busy enough for him to feel comfortable risking this small level of contact. "I don't really miss it to tell the truth." He knew it probably seemed like he should since he once played every sport he could handle, but now he was happy to be out of the realm of competitive play. He preferred his current job and limiting his training regimen to his morning runs and infrequent swimming. He didn't feel like being on the top mattered anymore. He didn't miss the attention as much as he once thought he would.

"You were good at it, but you're pretty good at your job now too," Ed smiled, picking up his wine glass finally and giving the liquid inside a sniff before downing it in a few swallows, making Eddward scowl as he sipped at his own glass. It was a fine vintage and shouldn't have been guzzled like that, but he reminded himself that this was Ed.

"I wasn't that good." Kevin smirked as Ed down the wine almost as quick as a shot. He'd had one glass and that was all he was planning to have. He still had sworn off really drinking. He was afraid of what the alcohol might do to him. He knew his family history with the stuff.

Ed's feelings for Kevin were entirely evident in the way he looked at his lover, smiling more naturally with softened eyes, his head down and his voice soft when they spoke to one another, even in the presence of company. He seemed to change completely when it came to those quiet, intimate moments they were able to share every so often, but nobody outside of Kevin had ever seen him like that. Kevin also knew Ed liked to try and flatter him. The man enjoyed making him flustered and bringing color into his face. He had begun to quit letting it bother him. No one else's opinion of their relationship and their roles therein mattered; only how Ed felt about him mattered now.

"Yeah you were...but you were smart to get out of it when you did I guess. I never got hurt, cept for the occasional concussion but I'm a lot bigger than you so who knows what mighta happened to you..." Ed frowned a little, pouting as he leaned his head down against Kevin's, making Eddy give a silent gagging motion until he was elbowed in the ribs by Double D.

"That's the past, Ed. I'm much more interested in our future." Kevin reached up and patted his lover's face. He had long abandoned the idea of personal space around the other man. He was the only one Kevin didn't mind invading that bubble so thoroughly. "It isn't important to me now, I've got better thing distracting me." He said the last few words in almost a whisper. He knew his lover was concerned about the what-ifs and how badly he may have been injured if he had stayed in. Kevin knew it could have been much worse. He was lucky and he counted himself even luckier to have even found Ed again.

Ed finally conceded, smiling faintly and nuzzling into the side of Kevin's head before sitting back upright. He knew Kevin only had his best interests in mind anymore and for that, he was beyond grateful. He loved having Kevin beside him and the what-ifs, they wouldn't be allowed to get in the way anymore. He bent and pressed his lips to the cup of Kevin's ear, murmuring a quiet "I love you" in spite of the company they kept, smiling to himself and turning the faintest pink as Eddy continued to silently complain. Not even he and Double D had been this way when they'd gotten together. But then again, they didn't share quite the same history.

Kevin felt his face burn and knew he was bright red. He'd still be unable to say those words to the other man, though not for lack of trying. It was weird; he felt those words were so special and he seemed to get a lump every time he tried to get them out and yet Ed, had managed to say them here, albeit in a whisper. Kevin messed with his collar a little and listened to his heart pounding in his chest. He almost wished his lover had said something dirty instead. There was only one fitting reply for this and he knew he would feel guilty later if he said nothing. He couldn't just kiss Ed. He almost felt as if a spotlight had been cast upon him, though only Ed and he knew what had just occurred. He knew he had to say it for the first time sometime and now seemed as good a time as any.

Kevin gently grabbed the collar of Ed's shirt and pulled him towards him until he could freely whisper in his ear. He was shaking a little and feeling very nervous. He didn't know why the idea of saying it hurt, it shouldn't. This should be easy. He'd felt this way for a long time now. There was no doubt in his mind that he loved Ed. And yet the words were so final in their own way. He was going to lay himself open and risk it all, though he knew it shouldn't feel that way; Ed had said it first. He didn't think that the man was kidding. He didn't know why he felt like crying. He knew Ed wouldn't laugh at him and say it had all been a lie and break him the moment he spoke the words in return. Their bond was real. He finally steadied himself and leaned in close to his lover's ear.

"I..." Kevin whispered softly and took a deep breath. He knew he was being stupid about these words. Being physical was always so much easier. He swallowed before speaking. "I love you, Ed." His eyes widened as he realized that he had not whispered but spoken clearly. He let go of the other's shirt and began to stare at his lap. He was glad he hadn't screamed it but he had meant to whisper it so that only Ed heard, not the other two Eds as well. He didn't want to look at them. He knew he was now redder than ever and he kind of wanted to put his face down on the table. He was relieved that he had finally managed to say it, but was still embarrassed as hell. At least he didn't feel like crying anymore; he felt like hiding his face, but suppressed the urge. He wondered why he was so stupid. He should have waited until they were alone...

Watching Kevin struggle so much, Ed began to lose heart. His smile faded little by little until it was barely there, his eyes falling. He just knew now that it had been a mistake to say anything in the first place. Now, he was the one that felt like crying. Or hiding under the table. Or both.

But when he finally heard it, loud and clear, he looked back up, only to see Kevin staring fixedly at his own knees. He bit his lower lip and reached out, laying a hand against the smaller man's cheek and turning his head back around so he could look into his lover's face. He did what Kevin wouldn't dare and leaned in to kiss his lips lightly, completely oblivious to the faces of his friends and any potential audience that might stop to watch the two of them.

Kevin was shocked out of his inner battle with his emotions and gripped Ed's collar with both hands to pull him into a deeper kiss. If they were at either of their apartments they might have gone somewhere to make love now, but they weren't and Kevin knew that sex in the restaurant bathroom was a stunt that he didn't want to even consider. He slowly pulled away from the larger male as he broke the kiss. He laid his head on his lover's shoulder. 

"I love you." He whispered to the other man as he felt his emotions finally calming. He had managed to cast away his fears and doubts again and just settle for the warm pleasant feeling that Ed's words and actions brought him. He knew he had been stupid again. He didn't know why he couldn't help these attacks of doubt sometimes, but he knew that would be one of the last. Ed loved him and now Ed knew he loved him back. He shut his eyes and let the happiness those words, and finally his own confession and the acceptance of that confession, had brought him fill his thoughts. He didn't want any worrying or negativity ruining the moment.

Ed chuckled quietly and nipped at Kevin's lip before looking back around at Eddy and Double D, blinking and blushing darkly. He cleared his throat and avoided looking at either of them. They were both staring, as were several people on their ways to the other booths. Ed couldn't help but react childishly, sticking his tongue out much as his sister would then crossing his arms like a moody child at all the accusing stares. He leaned against Kevin, trying to keep the man hidden from the world in general. Kevin was his; only he could stare at him, dammit!

"As nice as tonight has been, Ed. It may be time for us to split." Kevin whispered after shifted into a more comfortable position as his lover seemed to be intent on hiding him. He felt a bit flattered that Ed wanted him all to himself but they were starting to attract way too much attention. "We're all done eating now anyway. There are other things I'd rather do tonight than stay here." He kissed Ed's cheek gently after he spoke.

Ed heard Double D giggle quietly, attracting stares from all three of them until he blushed as well and ducked down.

"What? I think it's sweet," he said defensively, then laced his fingers with Eddy's before he could object. The shorter Ed just sighed and squeezed the other man's hand, glancing back at Kevin and Ed sandwiched so close together opposite them.

"You guys have no shame," he remarked, shaking his head then looking up as a waiter cleared his throat. Eddy and Ed each passed over their credit cards, then eyed one-another warily. Ed wanted to pay for it just because he could afford to and he wanted to treat his friends. For Eddy, it was a matter of pride. Eventually, Ed's love for his friend won out though and he put his credit card away. He did chip in generously for the tip though.

"Oh, we had our fill of that, man." Kevin smirked and wrapped an arm around Ed's waist after they made it outside. He knew Eddy and Ed would probably have a conflict about who was paying. He knew Eddy would win in the end too since it was easier to let him pay than to argue with an Eddy with hurt pride. He understood that much about the shortest of the trio. "There are some limits though." He remembered his thought about wanting sex in the bathroom and chuckled.

Immediately Eddy's expression darkened. He didn't want to think about that time. It was when he had heard about Ed in the hospital, and about their relationship, after all. He was cut off, though, as Double D planted his hands on his hips, looking at the two of them.

"Honestly, you two need to stop being so abrasive," he scolded Eddy and Kevin, attracting a pout from his husband then a quiet grunt of assent.

"Old habits are hard to break, probably because we are a lot alike." Kevin leaned against Ed for a moment before they parted at the cars. He and Eddy were past the constant bickering of the past but the old animosity would take much longer to fully subside; too much history between the two of them to become friends any time soon. He knew he had to try and not get into anything with the shorter man. He didn't really want to drive Ed's friends away and he had long decided that the past wasn't worth worrying about any longer.

Ed just listened to it, sighing quietly then laying his hand against Kevin's back. He pressed his lips to the smaller man's softly, then pulled away to let him get into his car. He wanted to apologize for Eddy's behavior, but he knew that they would never really be able to see eye-to-eye.

"Do you wanna go home, or d'you think you can stay with me tonight?" he asked sheepishly.

Kevin stopped before he reached the door and came back to Ed. he pulled the taller male to his level and pressed his face to his lover's. "Are you nuts? After what you told me tonight you really think I would just let that go and head back to my place?" The very idea of spending tonight alone made his chest hurt a little. He didn't care if they made love or not, he just wanted to be near Ed and be held by him.

"Don't worry about me and Eddy. In time it will be less and less of an issue. I don't care; it isn't going to drive me away from you. Now let's head to your place before I do something stupid." He gave Ed a quick kiss before turning to head back to his car.

Ed wanted to say that he kind of liked the idea of 'something stupid' but he simply nodded, smiling broadly to himself as he sank into his own ride and gunned the motor, waiting for Kevin to head out first before starting the short ride back toward their apartments. He parked rather sloppily, his tires sitting on the left line but he didn't feel like correcting it just then. He waited for Kevin to join him as soon as he stepped out onto the asphalt then immediately took his hand and pressed him into the driver's side door of the camaro, leaning in and pressing a long, soft kiss to his lips.

"Love you," he murmured so that only Kevin could hear him, his forehead pressed to his lover's as he looked down into his eyes.

Kevin wished that the words would stop making him blush like some fucking virgin. He couldn't understand how he could make love and even flirt and tease Ed and not turn as red as he was right now. He pressed his face into his lover's chest and whispered the words in return. He didn't know why saying it could be different than feeling it, but then again he knew he wasn't one to talk about feelings very well in the first place.

He pulled his face away and looked up at Ed after composing himself a little. "We better go inside," he smiled and stroked Ed's face.

Ed ran his fingers through Kevin's hair as he hid in his chest, smiling once more to himself and kissing the top of it before pulling away with his hand still laced firmly with the other's. He led him up the narrow stairs to his apartment and unlocked the door, only to close and lock it again when they were inside. He wrapped his arms around Kevin's middle and held him close, rocking slowly on his feet.

Kevin leaned into the embrace and looped his arms around his lover and rocked with him. He didn't care that they were kind of slow dancing to no music, or that Ed was leading. He just wanted the contact. The larger man was an addiction for him now; he knew it had to be since he felt like he was going through withdrawal whenever they were apart for more than a day or two. 

He reached up the pull Ed's face down to his for a quick and gentle kiss before pressing his face into his lover's neck and planting a few featherlight kisses towards his collarbone. The quiet moments with just the two of them were something he greatly cherished now. Nothing to be said, nothing to worry about. There was no screwing up or hurting each other in these moments and after tonight's revelation Kevin was even surer than ever that Ed felt the same way about their relationship as he did.

Ed slowly walked Kevin backward until they could sink into the couch, pulling the other man close to him and nuzzling into his neck before leaning back, his head against the back of the couch. "You know...you don't have to be so shy..."

Kevin scowled and kissed Ed roughly biting his lover's lower lip as he pulled away. "Maybe I wanted to take it slow, Ed." He kissed the other again and began to slip his hands under Ed's shirt and began roaming the other man's body. He kissed across Ed's neck again, this time nipping a little when he got to the point where the neck met the shoulder. He edged himself closer and began to grind a little into his lover. "Better?" he smirked and kissed Ed again as he undid the other male's pants.

Ed laughed a little, smiling as he was fondled and bitten but he stopped Kevin's hands at the button of his jeans. "I meant about saying it...you don't have to hide your face...I want you to be able to look at me when you say it." His smile softened as he brushed his fingers along Kevin's jaw, his hand coming to rest against the other's neck.

Kevin felt his face redden again, but he leaned forward and kissed his lover gently. "I don't know if I can do that yet. This feelings stuff, it is kind of hard for me, y'know?" He pressed his face to Ed's and ran a hand through the other man's wild red hair. "I want to be able to, but every time I look in your eyes..." Kevin paused and swallowed. "There's something about love that's amazing and terrible at the same time, man. I feel like I'd be helpless and lost without you. I just don't know what I'd do with myself. I just think about you all the damn time now...hell, it was more like after you had to leave the university that I began to never stop thinking of you. Now the feeling is worse than ever."

The smaller man sighed and laid his head against Ed's shoulder. "I guess somehow those words just don't cut it for me. It doesn't describe all you do to me or all you are to me. I know it is love, it hurts way too much not to be." He pulled back and looked at his partner. "Look, there was never a lot of love in my house growing up. My parents never said it to each other and I have never felt this way about anyone before. You are the first person I've ever wanted say it to.

"I'll keep trying, for you, but I can't promise you it will be soon. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. You ought to know that by now, Ed." He smiled and pressed his face to his lover's. "Okay?" 

Ed just sat and listened as Kevin explained himself, his chest tightening and he could feel the burning behind his eyes. He laid his hands in the small of Kevin's back, holding the smaller man against him as he leaned down and pressed his lips in a light arc from Kevin's temple, along the line of his cheekbone to his nose.

"You're a lot better with words than me...All I know how to say is exactly what I feel even if I know there's a lot more that should be said about it...I'm sorry I'm not all well-spoken like Double D or anything that your family would approve of but...well, if you want me I'm not gonna just stop saying it. But you don't have to. I know you love me too."

Ed smiled warmly, his eyes half-lidded as he leaned his forehead against Kevin's, then moved it down to the crook of his neck.

"I don't really give a damn about who approves and who doesn't, Ed. And really I'm not much better at this feelings stuff than you are." Kevin had noticed the tears building and it made him both happy as well as sad and it gave him a little courage. It made him remember all they'd been through together, even the night in the woods. He gripped Ed's face gently and turned it to let their eyes meet. "I love you, Ed." He felt a little color in his face still, but he managed to keep his eyes on the other's. He smiled and pressed his face to his lover's. Ed smiled brightly and ran his thumbs over Kevin's cheekbones, staring down at him then pressing his lips to Kevin's in a long, lingering but more or less innocent kiss. When he pulled back he was smiling once more and his arms were around Kevin's middle, holding the smaller man against him. He debated on falling asleep there on the couch, but after a day like this, it just didn't seem fitting.

"Come on," he whispered, taking Kevin's hands and pulling him up, pecking his forehead then leading him off toward the bedroom. He stripped down to his boxers, watching Kevin do the same with affectionate eyes then once more laying his hands on the smaller man's hips. He murmured in his ear once more then pulled back, crawling onto and stretching out over the bed then watching his lover until he was joined. He wrapped his arms around the smaller body and pulled him securely against him, kissing behind his ear and nuzzling into his neck. Sleep was fast in coming and when he drifted off, it was with a smile on his face.


End file.
